


We Belong to the Stars

by SummahWriter



Series: Stars [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Rewrite, Canon-Typical Violence, Eventual Smut, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Jealousy, Pre-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Protective Poe Dameron, Protective Siblings, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:48:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 65,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21918595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummahWriter/pseuds/SummahWriter
Summary: Five years ago, Poe Dameron ignored the warning signs and stayed with the Republic, leaving behind the woman he had fallen in love with and breaking both their hearts. Now, Poe and his squamates have joined the Resistance, and he's forced to face his past.  Kaleb and Evelyn Skywalker have been by their aunt's side since the formation of the Resistance, helping her to recruit more fighters to their cause while the First Order continues to grow stronger. As the Resistance prepares itself for the approaching conflict, new friendships are made, old ones are put to the test, and sparks fly between a certain pilot and Jedi.
Relationships: Karé Kun/Temmin "Snap" Wexley, Leia Organa/Han Solo, Luke Skywalker/Original Female Character (mentioned), Poe Dameron/Original Female Character(s), Shara Bey/Kes Dameron (mentioned)
Series: Stars [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2014405
Comments: 12
Kudos: 73





	1. Chapter 1

**_Unknown Regions, 33 ABY_ **

There was no time for escape once the first Star Destroyer showed up in system.

His only hope of getting the information he possessed to the Resistance, then he had to transmit it. Since no one knew their exact location, there was no way it would reach them directly; he was going to have to get creative. Plugging in the code for one of his more trusted contacts from his days in the New Republic's Intelligence Core, he slipped the disc into the computer, frantically downloading the information he had gathered for the last six months. It had been General Organa’s idea to get some on the inside, Lothor had been one of the Republic’s top-notch spies—it only made sense for him to infiltrate the First Order.

He'd made it pretty far up the ranks until Kylo Ren suspected him.

Screaming outside the door announced the arrival of the enemy. Lothor looked at the screen, desperately. Still fifty percent of the information needed to be downloaded. He knew that it would take those bucketheads a while to break through the coded door, he just hoped it was enough. Thirty-five percent. Something began to cut through the heavy armor of the door, the tip of a red light saber. Lothor could feel the fear running through him—through the tiny little outpost he had taken refuge in when fleeing the First Order.

Kylo Ren, the demon behind a metal mask.

Twenty-five percent. Lothor unholstered his blaster and aimed it at the door. He knew it would not hold off Kylo, he’d seen the man stop blast bolts mid-air, but it would provide a distraction, perhaps one long enough for the rest of the information to send to the Senator.

One hand on the controls of the computer, one eye watching as it ticked down, while the other hand held the blaster, the other eye watched as the metal of the door fell away. Kylo stepped into the room, face hidden behind a mask. “Agent Lothor. The plans—you will stop that transmission immediately.”

“Make me,” Lothor snapped, firing at the dark side user. He wasn’t surprised when Kylo easily deflected the blasts with his saber.

“My patience is wearing thin,” Kylo snarled, holding his hand out and snatching Lothor in a paralyzing grasp. “The plans—now!”

Lothor managed to glance at the computer, even if he was being held against his will with the Force. It was blinking: transmission sent. “You’re too late, Ren. The plans are in the hands of the Resistance.”

Kylo hissed, tightening his hold on the spy. “I will just trace the transmission.”

As if on cue, the computer console overheated, wires sparking and igniting, sending small plumes of smoke into the air. Lothor managed a weak smile. “Doesn’t seem like you’ll be able to. You can certainly give it a try, but I highly doubt you'll be successful. Even if you are, good luck breaking through all the encryption codes.”

“I will get those plans back, traitor,” Kylo said.

“Like I said; good luck,” Lothor snapped.

Those were his last words. Kylo Ren cut him down and left his body behind.

* * *

**_Resistance Transport Ship_ **

It was incredibly difficult to sleep on a transport ship.

Commander Poe Dameron—formally of the New Republic Navy, now a full-fledged member of the Resistance—had given up an hour ago to catch some shut eye. He laid on a bottom bunk, one arm behind his head, eyes staring up at the sleeping form of one of his lieutenants. He regarded Iolo Arana and Karé Kun as family; he was both happy and relieved that they were joining him on this journey. All three were tired of their hands being tied, of being told not to engage the First Order. Well, the Navy’s lack of response had cost Lieutenant Muran his life and would have cost Poe his commission if Leia Organa had not taken notice.

Rolling over onto his side, Poe took a deep, steadying breath. He’d been shocked to see Leia when he landed back on Mirrin Prime after directly disobeying Lonno Deso’s orders. It had been five years since he’d seen her, five years since she formed the Resistance—five years since he’d walked away from the woman he loved without ever letting her know how he truly felt. Squeezing his eyes shut, Poe fought his emotions, fought to push the image of Evelyn’s face the night they said goodbye from his mind. He felt the same twist in his gut, the same clench of his heart, whenever he thought about her. He’d been so young and stupid five years ago, walking away from her at her most vulnerable hour because he had some stupid oath to the Republic to honor…

“You thinking about her?” Iolo mumbled next to him.

“Every waking hour,” Poe mumbled back.

Iolo sat up on his bunk. The Kershian had been there when things had all gone to hell five years ago, he’d been there when they had gone to hell five days ago. “Have you thought about what you’re going to say to her when you see her?”

Poe winced. No, he had not thought about it, even though he knew it was going to be unavoidable. She would be there; she would be fighting right alongside her aunt to protect the galaxy from tyranny. “What can I say to her? I left, Iolo…”

The other man sighed, pushing his hair back. “How about starting with _I’m sorry._ ”

His chest tightened. “Yeah… that probably is a good place to start.”

Karé shifted above him, her voice sleepily calling down, “And then you should probably tell her what an idiot you are, you know, for walking away from her like that—after she pleaded with you to join her, to fight with her.”

“And after giving her that really expensive, beautiful pendant,” Iolo added.

“Right. I forgot about the kyber crystal,” Karé said. “Stars, Poe, you suck at the romance thing.”

“Alright, alright, I get it,” Poe whispered, harshly, noticing that their conversation was disturbing the recruits that had managed to fall asleep on the transport. “I suck at romance.”

Iolo glanced at the commander, then up at Karé. In the last five years, they’d watched as Poe pined away for Evelyn, even making some desperate attempts to move on from her that never really panned out because, quite frankly, Poe had never stopped loving Evelyn. “Maybe you should also throw in there that you love her,” he said, then shrugged his shoulders, “you know, just a suggestion.”

Poe rolled onto his back once again, rubbing his hands over his face. _What if she’s moved on? What if she doesn’t love me?_ These thoughts had plagued him for a while now, but more so since he agreed to go with Leia back to the Resistance. “I don’t know if that’s what she wants to hear… it’s been five years Iolo, anything could have happened in those five years.”

Karé clicked her tongue. “You think she’s moved on? Well… I guess with how you left things… I don’t say I blame her if she did.”

_Neither do I,_ Poe thought, instantly hating himself. _I broke her heart, I made her believe that the Republic was more important than she was. Kun is right—you are an idiot._

It was with this thought on the brain that Poe fell into a restless sleep. He was woken by the transport coming out of hyperspace and the lights going from dim to harsh. Inwardly groaning, Poe climbed out from underneath his bunk, grabbing his duffel at his feet. He slung the bag over his shoulder and woke BB-8 from his low power mode. The droid buzzed to life, asking if they had arrived at their new destination. “We have for now, buddy, let’s go.”

BB-8 followed behind the three pilots, his photoreceptor taking in the scene. They were on a bright, shiny, refitted Mon Calamari cruiser. In the hanger there were various makes of starfighters, mostly slightly older models of X-wings. He was happy that his master had not left him behind, that he believed he could do some good for the Resistance as well. 

A slender, very young woman with dark hair, met the three pilots at the end of the ramp. Poe tossed her a smile. “Hi Korrie,” he said, recalling the nickname that Leia had often used with her. “Are you the welcoming committee?”

Korr Sella pulled her lips into a small smile. “Commander. Yes, I guess you could say in a way I am the welcoming committee. General Organa wanted to meet with you as soon as you arrived. I’m here to take you to her. Lieutenant Kun, Lieutenant Arana, someone will be along to help you get settled into your quarters. I’m sure you’re all tired from your trip. I know how difficult it can be to sleep on those transports.”

Poe glanced at his squad, gave them a slight nod that it was okay, and then left the hanger with Korr—BB-8 following closing behind him. They were led through the stark white corridors until they reached the General’s private office. The young woman entered a code in the keypad, and the doors opened.

“Commander Dameron has arrived, General,” Korr announced as they stepped into her space.

“About time,” Leia Organa quipped from behind her desk. She rose her whisky brown eyes to his and smiled, “What took you so long, Poe?”

“Stubbornness?” Poe offered, because he didn’t have any other explanation.

Leia chuckled. “I guess that’s good as any explanation as I’m ever going to get.”

Poe smiled, sadly. “Maybe I just needed to see things for myself.”

“Perhaps. And now that you’ve seen these _things_ do you see what I was talking about five years ago?”

“Yes ma’am, and I’m sorry that I didn’t see it sooner.”

“I’m not sure I’m the one that you really need to be apologizing to, Poe,” Leia said, softly.

“I know,” Poe replied in a near whisper, casting his eyes downward.

Leia took a deep breath, sympathy filling her brown eyes. “I’m sorry, Poe, about Lieutenant Muran. He was a good pilot.”

Poe nodded in agreement. “An even better man.”

BB-8 warbled in agreement, which caused Leia to smile. “I see you still have your droid.”

“Wouldn’t trade him for anything in the galaxy, ma’am,” Poe said, with fondness. “He’s saved my life quite a few times.”

“And for that the Resistance is thankful,” Leia commented. “I don’t know how much Korrie was able to tell you, but we lost our wing commander a few weeks ago, my fighter squadrons have been a royal mess and we haven’t been able to send anyone out on any missions, except recruiting. I’ve thought about giving the job to Kaleb or Evelyn, but they don’t have military training—can outfly most of our pilots—but lack the strategic planning, formation knowledge.”

Poe remained neutral. He had no doubt that Kaleb or Evelyn Skywalker had the piloting skills to be wing commander, however, Leia was right—neither of them had been trained by the military. “Is this like the old days, when you would comm me and ask for advice on pilots and if I thought they were up for the job?”

Leia smiled and shrugged her shoulders. “Something like that,” she said. “Lieutenant Kun and Arana are due promotions, both capable leaders in their own right. I have about twelve pilots that just entered the ranks and I think they could whip them into shape fast.”

He titled his head to the side, glanced at BB-8, and nodded in agreement with the General. “Both are fine pilots, would make great squadron leaders. Although, I’d hate to lose them… it’s time for them to move up in the ranks. They’ve more than earned it.”

She continued to smile at him. “I’m glad to hear you say that, Poe. Because I feel you need to move up in the ranks as well—you’ve more than earned it. I only wish I could see the look on the brass' faces when they find out what I’ve done. You angered a lot of people higher up.”

“I did what I thought was right, ma’am.”

“I know. And stop calling me _ma’am._ ”

“Do you prefer General?”

“I prefer Leia.”

Poe smiled, shyly. He felt that he needed to earn her respect back before he ever started calling her Leia. “Give me more time with that, General.”

Leia shook her head and handed him a data pad. “We’re going to be working together a lot, Commander Dameron, if you’re going to be our wing commander.”

His dark brown eyes went wide for a second. Poe could hear BB-8 beeping and warbling, brushing his dome against the pilot’s calf. “Ma’am—General—Leia…are you sure?” he stammered, not sure what to call her or what to say, exactly.

She grinned at him and stretched her hand out, offering a firm handshake. “I never make decisions lightly, Poe. As I told you on Mirrin Prime, we need passionate right about now, someone devoted to doing the right thing at all times, even if that means getting a little reckless here and there. So, congratulations. Now, your first official order of business—go to your quarters, get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning at zero seven hundred to meet with the others.”

“Yes ma’am,” Poe said with a slight grin, finally feeling like he was actually doing something about the First Order.

“Poe,” Leia called to him just before Korr led him to his quarters, “you need to talk to her, and soon; you’ve already waited five years too many, don’t you think?”

_Yes, I probably should have chased after that transport five years ago; said goodbye to the Navy—but Papa, how could I turn my back on him?_ Poe knew that was a ridiculous excuse, his father would have supported his decision no matter what. “Does she even want to…see me?”

Leia sized him up for a moment, how the usually cool, confident young man was so absolutely unsure of himself when it came to speaking to her niece. “I don’t have the answer to that question. I can tell you that in the months after we left Hosnian Prime, she kept trying to find answers as to why you walked away.”

Poe winced, his eyes catching sight of BB-8. “Did you tell her because I was a coward?”

“I didn’t tell her anything. Other than you had your reasons for staying behind.”

“I put my oath before her.”

“Common mistake that a lot of good leaders make, Poe.”

“General Organa… I never meant… I didn’t want to hurt her.”

Her stance softened, a motherly look coming to her eyes. Leia knew this, he did not need to tell her. Poe had been there the night the Jedi Temple had been destroyed, he’d been there when Evelyn and Kaleb had revealed that it was her own son that had perpetrated it all and if circumstances were slightly different, perhaps Poe would have been there when she formed the Resistance. However, that was all in the past. “Just talk to her, Commander. You _both_ need closure.”

His shoulders slumped, slightly, and he nodded, looking more exhausted than he had five minutes ago. Poe heard Leia order him to get some sleep once again, and he was off, following Korr. She made small talk; he could tell she was feeling slightly uncomfortable given all the history that Poe shared with Leia and her family. BB-8 certainly perked up when the young woman mentioned that they had already placed a charging station on Poe’s quarters for him. Poe smiled, tiredly. “Thanks. He really hates charging in the hanger. Too cold for him.”

Korr shot him a funny look. “Do droids feel temperature?”

Poe shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know. It’s just what he’s told me. Besides, he’s my pal, and I kinda hate the idea of him alone in that hanger.”

“There are other droids charging in the hanger,” Korr pointed out.

“Yeah but none as special as BeeBee,” Poe supplied, scratching his droid for good measure.

She rolled her eyes and left him for the night outside of his new living space. He took a deep breath and keyed the code in. Stepping inside he could make out a small sitting area with a sofa, chair, and table; there was a desk on the far-right side, and on the left a door to the refresher and his bedroom. Next to the sofa he could see BB-8’s charging station. 

Poe heaved a sigh as the door closed behind him. “Home sweet home,” he murmured to the droid. 

BB-8 brushed against him, softly beeping.

“I’m fine, buddy, tired,” Poe assured the droid. He dropped his bag down near the sofa. “Why don’t you plug in for the night? Sounds like we have a busy day tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story takes place in the verse that my Drabble series (Pathways) sets up. You don't need to read those to necessarily to understand what's going on in this story however. I hope you enjoy it!


	2. Chapter 2

**_Echo of Hope, somewhere in the Outer Rim_ **

Kaleb Skywalker couldn’t help but _feel_ the buzz around the Resistance that morning as he made his way to the command center. After arriving back on the _Echo of Hope_ late the previous night, he hadn’t opened up that much to the Force, too exhausted from his latest recon mission. Something of importance had happened the night before, otherwise, there wouldn’t be a constant buzz around the cruiser like there was now. 

There had been no time to debrief with his aunt and the other admirals the previous night, therefore, no time for his aunt to let him know what was going on. Kaleb adjusted his orange flight suit as he stepped into the command center, brightly greeting Kaydel Ko Connix. “Good morning, Lieutenant. Any chatter we should be worried about?”

Connix tossed him a tense look. “No. But it is only zero-seven hundred hours. Give the First Order the chance to have their morning caf.”

He laughed before tapping on the glass to the situation room. Kaleb threw her a smile over his shoulder and saw her cheeks flush. “Okay, I’ll give them the chance to have their morning cup of caf… but after that, if they’re quiet I might be a little upset.”

“Very funny,” Connix snapped at him as he stepped inside the situation room.

“I think she’s starting to like me,” Kaleb tossed at Korr.

“Sure,” Korr said, with a shake of her head. “You realize you annoy her.”

Kaleb shrugged his shoulders. “I used to be able to annoy my sister like that; now she’ll land a right hook to my jaw.” He rubbed his jaw for good measure. “I wish I had never taught her how to punch.”

Korr chuckled as the doors to the situation room opened again and Leia breezed in. The General hugged her nephew before positioning herself behind the table, and Korr stepped forward handing her a datapad. “The Commander was busy last night, guess he didn’t follow your orders to get some rest.”

Leia smiled as she took the datapad. “I didn’t expect him too; those orders were more of a suggestion. You saw how tired he looked, Korrie.” Her brown eyes scanned the information in front of her. “I see that he’s already got those new recruits sorted into squadrons—well, at least he’s efficient and works fast.”

“Who are we talking about?” Kaleb questioned, and then he saw the look that came over his aunt’s face. “Aunt Leia?”

“I went to Mirrin Prime, last week,” Leia informed her nephew.

_Mirrin Prime. Kriff. Poe._ Kaleb felt pent up fury bubbling to the surface. Poe had been his best friend, he’d meant more to Evelyn, and he’d turned his back on them. “Why?” he growled out. He could see that his tone of voice made Korr anxious. “Why would you go there? Did he turn you down again? Swear that he has some damn oath to the Republic and therefore couldn’t possibly leave his post?”

Leia was about to answer him, but it was Poe’s voice that spoke next, startling Kaleb. “No. I didn’t turn her down this time,” the commander responded, calmly. 

Kaleb clenched his jaw and turned slightly to face his old friend. Poe looked apologetic, but that didn’t change things. It didn’t change how abandoned Evelyn had felt, how hurt Kaleb had been, and he did the only thing that he could think of doing—he punched him, hard in the jaw. “ _That_ was for my sister,” he snarled.

Poe rubbed his jaw, while Leia cursed at Kaleb and Korr looked on in horror. He put his hand up when Leia was about to go into a rant at her nephew, and he cracked a small grin. “General, we both know I deserved that.” He straightened his shoulders and took a step back from Kaleb. “I don’t expect you to forgive me, nor am I seeking it. I came here because it was the right thing to do. I only wish I had realized it sooner, Kaleb. I’m sorry.”

“Sorry!” Kaleb shouted at him. “For what? Breaking her heart? Leaving us just after our mother died? Turning your back on your friends when we needed you the most? What exactly are you sorry for, Poe?”

“All of it,” Poe whispered, spreading his hands out in front of him. “Every single thing you just said.”

_Well, kriff, how am I supposed to respond to that?_ Kaleb thought, just as the rest of the admirals joined them. He shifted, anxiously on his feet, still not sure what to make of Poe showing up. _Of all the people to wander into the fray—it had to be Poe._

Thankfully it appeared that the others were not privy to his family’s personal history with their newly acquired commander; Kaleb knew that Poe’s position was important, they needed someone with the piloting skills and military savvy to be in charge of the squadrons, and they did not need the higher ups to be distrustful of him based on the drama surrounding Leia, Kaleb, and Evelyn. _Actually, more the drama around Poe and Evelyn, but still… the rest of my family is involved in some way…_

To his credit, Poe charmed the others, just like he always did, Kaleb realized. He just had a natural way about reading a room, about flashing a smile at the right time, and by the end of the meeting, he had everyone feeling more hopeful.

Connix raised an eyebrow at him when Kaleb emerged from the situation room. “Who’s the new guy?”

Kaleb clenched his fists at his sides. “Poe Dameron, our new wing commander.”

“You don’t seem thrilled,” she pointed out.

“I… we have… we have a past,” he stated, simply.

“A past?” Connix questioned, surprise in her voice. “What… kind of past?”

“Yeah, the he broke my sister’s heart past,” Kaleb spat, angrily before he stalked off towards the hanger. Instantly he felt bad for spilling the biggest, juiciest piece of gossip since a couple of pilots from Green Squadron had been caught in a storage locker…

… it wasn’t like the Resistance didn’t gossip about _who_ Evelyn dated already, or that she was obviously in love with someone else…

Kaleb had just given them the identity. _It’s not like they wouldn’t have found out, eventually. Just rip the bandage off and get it done and over with. Except, kriff, Skywalker, you probably just inadvertently put your sister in a bad place, hearing that Poe has joined the Resistance through gossip and not from you, or Aunt Leia._ _Nice going,_ he thought, bitterly as he stepped into the hanger. He immediately could see that Poe was looking for someone and he swallowed his pride for a moment to approach the new wing commander. “She’s not here.”

Poe looked almost relieved. “Where is she?”

“D’Qar, on the Resistance’s base.”

“Is she…”

“Coming here anytime soon? Not that I know of, unless my aunt has changed her assignment.”

“I know I can’t avoid her forever, but… at least it gives me a little more time to think about what I’m gonna say to her.”

Kaleb sighed, sadly. He suddenly felt bad for punching the commander. “Sorry… about before…when I hit you.”

Poe smiled at him, easily. “I meant what I said—I deserved it.” His smile faded and his brown eyes grew sad. “I never wanted to hurt her, Kaleb. I know that I did a lousy job of that, but you have to understand that my intentions were never to hurt her like I did.”

“Yeah, I know, that’s why I can't stay mad at you,” Kaleb snapped. “I’m not forgiving you…”

“I don’t want you too,” Poe replied. “I didn't come here seeking forgiveness."

“Listen, I never said I wasn’t going to forgive… just… I need more time.”

“Do you think she can forgive me?” Poe asked, so quietly that Kaleb wasn’t sure he had heard him.

_He wants to know if she still loves him._ Kaleb looked away for a moment, thinking about how many nights Evelyn had cried herself to sleep after leaving the Republic, how many times she would go into central command after the base on D’Qar was set up, asking after Poe… if he had reached out to her… if he had perhaps changed his mind and joined the Resistance… “You’re going to have to ask her that yourself,” he answered. He saw the pain in Poe’s dark brown eyes; Evelyn had not been the only one suffering all these years. “You still have feelings for her,” he sighed.

His fists clenched at his sides and Poe nodded. “If we’re going to be honest—yes, I still have feelings for her. You don’t know how many nights I laid in my bunk, thinking about her, thinking about just getting in my X-wing and coming to find the Resistance—but then I thought of my oath, my squadron—and what my father would think. He taught me to always follow through with my commitment and I foolishly told myself that he would be disappointed in me if I left the Navy for the love of a woman.”

Kaleb frowned. He knew Kes well enough that that would not have been the case; if Poe had just explained to his father why he was leaving, Kes would have understood. “Kes would tell you that you’re a kriffing moron.”

Poe tossed him a said smile. “He did; when I talked to him the other day, before coming here. He specifically said _it’s about damn time you stopped being an idiot, son._ ”

“Yeah, that sounds like Kes,” Kaleb couldn’t help but laugh. He looked at his best friend, a slight pang in his chest at how easy it was to talk to him. He’d missed Poe too, not in the same sense as his sister, of course, but he’d missed having that confident he could go to whenever he needed to just talk. “Hey, Poe,” he said, placing a hand on the other man’s shoulder, “I’m glad you’re here.”

“I’m glad I’m here too,” Poe said, “I finally feel like I’m doing something to combat the First Order. The Republic is more than happy to just ignore what is going on.”

"How can they just keep ignoring the information we're gathering for them?"

"Half of them are bought and paid for by the First Order is my guess."

_So, why is Korrie always going to the Senate to give them updates if they aren't listening? Is it just lip service?_ Kaleb thought, feeling disheartened. He should have known when the Senate turned a blind eye after the destruction of the Jedi Temple that things were not going to look up for the Resistance. He sighed, heavily. "Five years ago, you said that it would take something devastating to wake them up. I had hoped it was the complete annihilation of the Jedi... guess I was wrong."

Poe placed a hand on his friend's shoulder and gently squeezed it. "For them, it was easier to look the other way because it happened so far away from their world. Something catastrophic is going to have to happen right in front of them in order for them to see that we're right."

Kaleb took a deep breath and moved out from underneath Poe's hand. He needed to clear his head; his squadron was due out for patrol. Once he returned from completing his duties he would think about the impending doom he felt in his gut. Kaleb didn't even need the Force to feel it this time.


	3. Chapter 3

**_D'Qar, Resistance Base_ **

L'ulo L'ampar was taken back in time, over thirty years to be precise, as he took in the young woman before him. If it wasn't for the blue and silver bb-unit following her, L'ulo would swear that he was watching his old squad mate, Sela Swift and not Sela's only daughter.

Evelyn was almost a spitting image of her late mother, with the exception of her eyes—she had inherited the Skywalker blue. She moved with more grace than her mother, something that L'ulo attributed to her connection to the Force. While it was no secret that Evelyn had closed herself off from the Force shortly after the destruction of the Jedi Temple, L'ulo knew that she couldn't just forget all her training and that her connection laid just beneath the surface. It was hard to believe that this young woman had once been the little girl that would grin at him when he stopped on Yavin for a visit just before launching herself at him for a hug, would call him _Uncle L'ulo,_ would sit on his knee while he told her stories of the Rebellion, hanging on his every word. _Now that child is fighting her own war,_ L'ulo thought, sadly. _What would Sela say?_

It was times like this, when there was a quiet moment on the Resistance base, that L'ulo was glad Sela was not alive to see what was happening in the galaxy. She had defected from the Empire at sixteen to fight their tyranny. It would break her heart to know that her children were now following the same path. 

"Captain L'ampar," a voice called out to him. L'ulo turned to see Major Brance, shielding his eyes against the harsh sun on the flight pad. "General Organa wishes to speak to you."

"Be there in a moment, Major," L'ulo promised. Heaving a sigh he noticed that he'd caught the attention of Evelyn's little droid. "Lieutenant?"

Evelyn looked up from her work on her fighter, pushing a few stray, sweaty pieces of hair from her eyes. "Sir?"

L'ulo gestured for her to come join him. "The General wishes to speak with us."

Jumping down from the wing of her ship, Evelyn quickly fell in step besides him. Her droid rolled behind, following dutifully. "What do you think she wants to talk to us about?" the young woman asked, slipping the top half of her orange fatigues back on. 

"She just came back from the _Echo of Hope,_ " L'ulo replied. "Maybe she has a reconnaissance mission for us."

"Snap left on one this morning," Evelyn reported. "Do you think she's finally found a replacement for wing commander?"

"Possibility."

"It's been months since we've had one and more recruits have been pouring in."

They entered the base and began descended the steps inside. It was a flurry of activity, like usual. L'ulo and Evelyn shouldered their way through the room, heading straight for the command center. Both pilots could see Leia, dressed in a simple top and vest, hair pulled back in a braid, standing at the console. She glanced up as they approached and her eyes fell on her niece for a moment, a mixture of hope and pain crossed her expression. _Uh-oh, maybe I shouldn't have brought Evie,_ L'ulo thought, anxiously.

Leia straightened her petite form and offered them a smile. "I'm glad you're both here. There are some changes you both need to be made aware of."

Evelyn glanced at L'ulo for a moment as her aunt handed him a data pad. L'ulo looked the information over. _Well, I'll be damned._ "Did you literally smack the sense into him, Princess?"

"No, I saved him from an impending court martial for disobeying direct orders not to engage the First Order."

"Huh, not surprising; he was always a bit of a rebellious teenager."

"Does this bother you?" Leia asked the former Rebellion pilot, eyes darting towards the confused look on Evelyn's face.

"If you're asking me if I can serve under him, of course I can," L'ulo replied handing the data pad back to her. "His mother was a great pilot and a dear friend." Turning slightly towards Evelyn, he added, "But I'm not the one you really should be asking that question to, your highness."

Leia nodded in agreement. She reached for Evelyn's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Before I start, I wanted to talk to you before I went to Mirrin Prime, there just wasn't time; everything happened so quickly _."_ The data pad that L'ulo had just been holding passed into her niece's hand and the General watched, carefully, for Evelyn's reaction as she read the orders on it. For a moment, there was no reaction, since it started off as a simple reassignment, however, as she read further, Leia could see Evelyn's jaw clench. "Evie, sweetheart, talk to me..."

Evelyn clearly was fighting tears, they glistened in her eyes as she pushed the data pad back at her aunt. "You finally convinced Poe to join us, by making him wing commander? Did he... has he asked about me?"

L'ulo took a deep breath. It was no surprise that Leia had asked Poe to be wing commander, the boy had possessed natural charisma since birth, and no one could dispute his flying skills. It also was no surprise that Evelyn was curious if Poe asked about her. He'd heard about the fall out of their brief romantic relationship—if one could call it that—he'd seen the aftermath himself when he joined Leia in a confused, heartbroken young woman. A heartbroken young woman, who would immediately ask everyday if Poe had sent her a message for a whole year after the formation of the Resistance. 

"On Mirrin Prime, you were the first thing he asked me about," Leia answered her, honestly. "He wanted to know if you were okay." 

"What did you tell him?" Evelyn asked, her eyes casting downward.

"Nothing but the truth, sweetheart," the General answered. "I could have punched him like your brother."

Evelyn's eyes snapped up to her aunt and they reflected some horror. "Kaleb did that?"

Leia reached out and pat her cheek. "He's just protecting his little sister. No one wants to see you get hurt again."

L'ulo saw a few tears spill over thick lashes and down her cheeks. She wiped furiously at them before turning on her heel and announcing that she had some more work to do on her fighter. Her little droid, took off after her, leaving L'ulo standing there alone with Leia. He sighed. "I'm glad someone smacked him about how he treated her."

"He definitely regrets it," Leia said, sadly, "and joining the Resistance is not his way of seeking forgiveness, although it could go a long way in that sense."

"Poe just wants to do what is right," L'ulo offered. He smiled with Leia looked at him surprised. "You forget that I helped Kes raise that boy after Shara's death. I know him just as well as you do."

"Then you know as well as I do that he still has feelings for her, and that she still has feelings for him, but both are too stubborn to take the first step," Leia drawled. "I can only nudge them in the right direction, but I cannot force them to speak to one another."

“Haven’t you already done that… by making him wing commander? He’s going to have to talk to her _sometime._ ”

“Maybe, I gave them a _slight_ nudge—the rest is up to them.”

"You know, your highness," L'ulo said, before he took his leave, "they remind me of another couple. I believe one was a princess and the other a smuggler." 

* * *

It never failed, when she thought about him, the kyber crystal pendant he had given her, glowed a warm hue of gold.

She had to fight her tears, as she fled the command center, Evelyn did not need anyone to see her crying. _Especially over him._ She hadn't been sure why, but in the last few days Poe Dameron had been on her mind more frequently. It all made sense now, that he had joined the Resistance and was going to lead the fighter squadrons for her aunt. They had not had any contact in the last five years; everything she knew about what Poe had been up to since they said goodbye on Hosnian Prime, she knew through intel that their officers reported to her aunt.

Her fingers curled around the pendant, hiding its warm glow from people passing her. He’d given it to her in the hopes that it would soften the blow that he was not following her to help her aunt form the Resistance, that he was honoring his oath to protect the Republic, and that he was effectively ending any romance blossoming between them. Poe knew that by staying behind, keeping his command, he wouldn’t see her, wouldn’t have any contact with her. The Senate could not outrightly approve of what her aunt was doing, and therefore, the military could not either.

If Poe were to contact her, it could mean the end of his career. This didn’t lessen the void in her life. Poe had been her best friend. He had been _more_ than her best friend—or so she thought before he turned his back, quite literally, and walked away from her on the tarmac five years ago.

"Hey!" a voice greeted her when she made it back to the flight pad. "Bunch of us are going swimming after shift is up, want to join? Snap's bringing the moonshine!"

"No thanks, Jess," Evelyn said, wiping her eyes dry. "I'm not in the mood."

Jessika Pava eyed her, suspiciously and then she saw how tightly Evelyn was clutching at the pendant around her neck. She frowned. Rumors had been flying around base all day about their new wing commander and Evelyn, how the pair had been romantically involved in the past. Jess didn't know who had given the pendant that her friend always wore, but she had her suspicions that it come from Poe. "Come on, it might make you feel better to get drunk.”

Evelyn shook her head. "Trust me, Jess, getting drunk isn't going to help matters. I think it's just best if I call it an early evening." _Maybe in the morning it won't hurt that much, maybe he'll actually reach out to me for once..._

"This have anything to do with Commander Dameron?" Jess asked, blatantly. 

"What about Commander Dameron?" Evelyn shot back, noticing that her voice choked on his name.

"How everyone is speculating you had some kind of romantic relationship with him."

"You can tell everyone to stop speculating. It wasn’t much of a relationship, okay? I left for the Resistance, he stayed with the Republic. End of story."

Placing her hands on her hips, Jess glared at her. "Is it?"

Evelyn wanted to argue that it was, but even as she opened her mouth to speak, no words came out. Her hand was still clinging to the kyber pendant. "It _has_ to be," she whispered, even if, in her heart she knew that she didn't want it to be.

Jess tossed her an incredulous look. "Listen, you don't have to tell me, but I'm pretty sure Poe was the one to give you that necklace. No one holds onto a gift like that if they want the story to be over. And let's be honest, your track record with dating... not so great. Maybe... you should give Commander Dameron another chance," she said as she walked away, reminding Evelyn once more that the pilots were gathering down by the lake later.

Letting go of the pendant, Evelyn gazed at it. He had wanted the necklace to be something to remind her of him, to take a piece of him with her wherever she went. Evelyn very rarely took it off; a lot of guys that had pursued her had noticed... Jess was right about one thing... her track record with dating wasn't that great. _That's because you're in love with Poe, you have been for years, just admit it._ Taking a deep breath, Evelyn proceeded towards her fighter. She had plenty of work to do right now; she could think about Poe later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're on Tumblr come say hi! Here's the link to my page: https://summahsunlight.tumblr.com


	4. Chapter 4

Evelyn _did_ end up going down to the lake later, however she went to the opposite shore that she knew the pilots would be on. It was quiet in this spot. She could sit down in the soft sand, watch the sun set over the pristine water, and pretend for a while that the galaxy wasn't on the brink of full scale war. 

Tracing shapes in the sand, Evelyn had no idea what she was drawing until CB-2 beeped and rolled closer to her. She glanced down to see that she had written _his_ initials. Before she wiped them away, Evelyn stared at them, her heart filled with so many different emotions. She was still heart broken that Poe had walked away and left her just after she had lost everything, but at the same time, she couldn't stop the small stirring of hope. _He came back. Maybe he does still care about you. Maybe the story isn't over._ Evelyn sighed and erased his initials. The kyber pendant grew warm, but this time, she didn't try to fight it, in fact, she rather liked how it felt. The crystal had connected through the Force with her memories of the man that had given it to her. When it had first happened, Evelyn had been startled, but now, it offered some sense of comfort. She doubted Poe had any idea that the pendant was going to connect them, in some subtle way.

CB-2 rolled up and brushed against her, offering her a comforting presence.

Evelyn smiled at her droid. "He'd like you," she whispered. "He's fond of bb-units." 

Her little droid warbled with excitement. She wanted to meet the commander now if he liked bb-units. There were not many around the base that did like them because well, many thought they were too emotional for droids. 

"If he comes here, I'll introduce you," Evelyn promised, patting the droid on her domed head. "And his own bb-unit, I'm sure they're together still." She laughed out loud at CB-2's excitement that another pilot used a bb-unit. 

Grasping tightly to the pendant, Evelyn laid down in the sand, looking up at the stars starting to appear as the sun faded away. Closing her eyes, she was transported back to another time, another place. She could see Poe, laying on his side, sound asleep in his bunk. There was a perfect sized spot for her, between his chest and his outstretched arm. Crawling into the bunk with him, she laid facing him, her fingers lightly tracing along his cheekbones, his jawline...

...his eyes opened and saw her, he raised a hand to brush the hair back from her face, whispering her name. 

Evelyn gasped in shock, her eyes flying open. She had _felt_ his hand on her cheek, _heard_ his voice. It had not been a memory she had gotten lost in—somehow, someway, Poe and Evelyn had bonded through the Force.

* * *

He dreamed of a lake and sandy shores. Poe could smell the fresh water, the gentle breeze tickled at his skin and even sent a small chill up his spine. The setting sun provided some warmth, but not much. Soon, the planet would be blanketed in darkness with nothing but the moon and stars for light. 

Poe closed his eyes, listening to the sounds of the lake lapping against the shore; he dug his fingers into the sand, still warm from the sun. The faint smell of lavender filled the space and instantly he was reminded of Evelyn. Lavender had been one of her favorite scents, whenever he held her, he had been intoxicated by its calming, sweet nature. He wished he was holding her right now. It was a shame to be in such a romantic place and not have a warm body to hold...

...and then he felt her, warm skin against his own, fingers tracing over his cheek bones and down his jawline.

Opening his eyes, Poe saw her, laying next to him. Her hair covered some of her face, but he knew it was Evelyn. Reaching out with his hand he brushed the hair back, softly whispering, "Evie..." 

All at once the mood changed, she gasped, pulling away from him. Poe felt like he was falling and woke up in his bunk on the _Echo of Hope,_ breathing heavily. Blinking the sleep from his eyes, he peered at the chronometer on the wall to see what time it was and then he looked in the corner, at BB-8 still plugged in and shut down for the night. _Dreaming, you were dreaming,_ he told himself, _even if it_ felt _so real._

Sighing, Poe sat up and rubbed his hands over his face. After that dream, he wasn't sure he would be able to fall back to sleep. Grabbing a shirt from a pile of discarded clothing, Poe threw it on and moved towards the small table in his quarters. He'd left his data pad there. There were still several hours to go before his first training run with some new recruits but he figured he was going to need those hours to purge the image of Evelyn laying with him in the sand, touching him intimately, allowing him to touch her. _Just a dream,_ he reminded himself, _she wasn't really there. Then why did it feel like she was?_ Poe argued with himself. _Why did it feel like her fingers touched my face, why did it feel like I touched her hair? Dreams aren't like that._

Poe took a deep breath. Was it possible that he'd connected to Evelyn through the Force, that while he'd been sleeping, somehow they'd found each other? _That's crazy. You're not force sensitive, Dameron._ Everything that he knew about the Force suggested that there was no possible way for him to have reached out to Evelyn... but, could she have reached out to him? Then again, in the dream, vision, whatever it was, Evelyn had seemed just as surprised as he was now about their connection. 

" _Commander Dameron, are you awake?"_

"I am _now,_ Lieutenant. What's the problem?"

" _Ah... there seems to have been... um...an incident... with some pilot recruits and... alcohol. They're in the brig now, sir."_

_Kriff, I'm too old to deal with stuff like this,_ Poe thought, inwardly groaning. "Let me guess, they experimented with making their own hooch?" _Should have waited until they met Snap. He could teach them a thing or two._

At first the communications officer was silent and then he sighed, " _Yes, sir. Admiral Ackbar would like you to handle it first."_

Poe closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Leia had told him discipline was going to fall on him in most cases. She'd also joked that he had trouble staying disciplined himself. "I'm on my way, I just need to get dressed."

" _O-okay, sir."_

"Get your head out of the gutter; it's not what you think."

" _Y-yes, sir, s-sorry sir."_

Poe shook his head as the commlink shut down. He realized early on that he had a bit of a reputation around here, a completely _false_ reputation, but a reputation none-the-less. Sela Skywalker had often told him as he got older that his roguish good looks would get him into trouble. He was used to attracting attention from both men and women alike. Now, when he was teenager and in flight school, that had not been such a bad thing. He could always find a date when he needed one, but now that he was a full grown man, the attention at times got tiresome. Add to the fact that many thought he was a player, it got really tiresome. 

Standing, Poe found some clean clothes that he could quickly change into before heading down to the brig to take care of his pilots. He wondered what all the people talking about him and his love life would think if they knew his heart only belonged to one woman; that it only belonged to Evelyn and that he was willing to wait for her, even if it meant he spent the rest of his life alone.

* * *

It was BB-8 that eventually woke Poe the following morning.

After dealing with the drunk pilots, Poe had retreated to his quarters and fallen asleep on the sofa. However, there had been nothing peaceful about his dreams. Whereas earlier, when he'd dreamt about Evelyn, he'd felt calm, peace... his dreams later in the night had made him restless. Even though he'd gotten a decent amount of sleep for a pilot in the Resistance, Poe didn't feel like he had slept at all. 

BB-8 nudged him out of the door, reminding him that he was already late for his briefing with the General. Poe rubbed a hand over his freshly shaven face— _at least I look like I got some sleep._

"Hey, you look like hell," Kaleb greeted him when he stepped into the situation room. "Rough night?"

_Well, I thought I looked like I slept,_ Poe mused, gazing up at the other man. "Some new recruits tried to make Snap's version of moonshine. It didn't end well." 

Kaleb grinned, broadly. "Poor babies; they never knew what hit them."

Poe smiled, easily. Every pilot in the Starfighter Corps had probably been a victim of Snap and his moonshine at some point. "It's a rit of passage or something, isn't it?"

"So I've been told."

"You never partook in the indoctrination?"

"Evelyn would have beat my ass."

"Good point; I don't see her holding your hair back while you hurl up all that moonshine."

Kaleb laughed; it felt good to laugh like that again with him. Poe recalled simpler times, when they were kids, when they didn't have a care in the galaxy. He was hit with an overwhelming sense of loss; loss of innocence, loss of life... loss of love. It was impossible to go back, Poe understood this. Kaleb must have sensed his grief because the easy smile faded from his face replaced by a look of concern.

Poe waved him off. "I'm fine," he whispered. "Just... wishing for the ways things were. I know, stupid, because we can never go back to what we were."

His eyes reflected understanding; Kaleb crossed his arms over his chest. "We might not be able to get _all_ of it back, but you might be able to get at least some of it."

He thought of Evelyn, of his dream of her. If there was anything that he wanted back, it was her. Poe glanced away from Kaleb, focusing on the holotable. _Ask for her comm code, idiot,_ he admonished himself. _Talk to her.... that's the only way you're going to know if she feels the same way about you that you feel about her._ Poe sighed, heavily, opened his mouth to ask how to contact Evelyn, but froze in fear. What if she wanted nothing to do with him? What if getting in touch with her was just going to prolong his heartbreak? 

"If you leave her a message, she'll respond," Kaleb said, softly. 

"You won't have to leave her a message," Leia said, breezing into the situation room. "You and Kaleb are going to D'Qar. But first, I have a mission for you two."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm probably taking a little poetic license with Force bonds, but *shrugs* anyways, I hope you enjoyed it.


	5. Chapter 5

Leia moved towards the center console and hit a few keys. The image of a man appeared; it glowed, filling the room with a blue tint, flickering in and out every few seconds. She folded her arms over her chest. "Do you two know who this is?"

Poe let out a slow breath. "Senator Ro-Kiintor."

Kaleb glanced, sideways at his aunt. "You don't want us to kidnap a senator, do you Aunt Leia?"

"No, nothing _that_ drastic," Leia responded, with a slight smile at her nephew. She pressed another button and a ship appeared. "This is the _Hevurion Grace,_ the senator's personal yacht. It has been seen in First Order space, several times in the last couple of years. We believe that Senator Ro-Kiintor is colluding with the First Order, perhaps General Hux or Snoke himself. We just haven't been able to prove it. Poe, what do you know about the _Pinnacle-_ class yachts?"

"Manfactured by Vekker Corp," Poe replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "I've seen them a couple of times. Only the very wealthy can afford them, usually everything is handmade, customized to the owner's wishes. More luxury than efficacy and they might as well as have a sign hanging on the hull with an invitation for pirates that screams, _money in here!."_

Leia's eyes sparkled, came even more alive. "Could you fly one, Commander?"

Poe shifted on his feet. He often told people he could fly anything. "Sure. It's designed to be flown by a single pilot."

"Good. I want you to steal it," Leia responded.

"What?" Kaleb sputtered. "You just said you didn't want us to do anything drastic!"

"No, I said I didn't want you to do something as drastic as kidnapping a Republic senator," Leia corrected him.

Kaleb looked incredulously at his aunt. "Sorry, I got my levels of drastic measures mixed up I guess. I had stealing a yacht at the top of the list along with kidnapping a senator."

Leia now gave him a mock glare. "You hung around your uncle too much as a child; his sarcasm has worn off on you."

Poe laughed, silently. Kaleb's remark _did_ sound like something Han Solo would have said. _Han Solo would help us steal the yacht,_ Poe thought as he glanced at the holo image of the _Hevurion Grace_ still displayed before them. "How do you propose we do this? We can't go charging at this ship with Resistance issued X-wings."

"You're right," Leia said with a sigh. She shut the display down. "Despite the fact that Ro-Kiintor is a traitor, until we can prove it, he is still a senator in the Republic and we have to honor that."

"What you're saying is, if we agree to do this, we're on our own," Poe supplied, feeling a weight settling on his shoulders.

Leia nodded. "I need that ship, Poe; I need those navigational logs. Ematt has tried to put several agents on board the ship, but the records are purged before we can obtain any information. We need to disable the ship before the senator can do that, which is why I need someone to steal it. But I want both of you to know that this is a voluntary mission, anyone else you take with you has to realize if you run into trouble, we cannot help you."

Poe took in a deep breath, thinking over her words. If what she was saying was true, that Senator Ro-Kiintor was involved with the First Order, was betraying the Republic, than he was partially responsible for Lieutenant Muran's death. His fists clenched. "It's a tight window to take the ship, and it will have to be done in space, before the senator can land."

"I'm aware of that. I know how difficult this mission is going to be, which is why I'm giving you the option of saying _no,_ Commander."

"If I'm going to do this, General, I'm going to need a few things."

Kaleb ran a hand over his face. _Kriff, what are we getting ourselves into._ He felt Poe's hand on his shoulder and when he turned to look at his friend, there was a warm smile on Poe's face, as if to tell him, _it's gonna be fine._

* * *

Poe knew that convincing Karé and Iolo to join them on this crazy mission was not going to be hard. After all, this is why they had come to the Resistance, to do something about the amassing threat of the First Order. Kaleb sticking by his side during all this did surprise him though, if they were caught...

"We're not getting caught," Kaleb said, leaning back against the bulkhead. "Eight minutes is plenty of time to pull this off."

"If we do... the Senate is already distrustful of your family," Poe pointed out to him.

Kaleb shrugged his shoulders. He had always known where he came from; it had never been a secret to him that his grandfather had fallen to the dark side and become Darth Vader. It had also never been a secret that his other grandfather was an Imperial war lord. Despite all that, his parents had turned into decent people. "At this point, I don't give a damn about my reputation in the Senate."

Iolo got up from his spot at Poe's small table, poured himself another drink, and went to pat Kaleb on the shoulder. "Makes two of us," he said with a wide grin. "I'm glad you're coming along; we could use all the good pilots we can get on this crazy stunt."

He returned Iolo's smile. Kaleb had pulling off crazy stunts in his blood. His father and uncle had dodged capture on the Death Star, tricked Jabba the Hutt... "If we really want to be successful, we'd call Evie. She's the better pilot."

Poe's eyes grew dark. It had already been suggested once, by Kaleb, that Evelyn go instead of him. Poe couldn't bring himself to make that call. It would be the worst way to see each other again and honestly, the thought of her being arrested made him sick to his stomach. 

Karé sensed his unease around the subject and changed it. "Evelyn might be the better pilot, but we can do this Kaleb. Just think of the story we'll have to tell her once we get that damn yacht back to D'Qar."

"She's going to say this was too reckless," Kaleb drawled, with a fond smile.

"Evie was always the more rational one," Poe murmured. 

"Growing up with you two, she had to be," Iolo joked.

"That's true," Poe said with a sad smile. 

"When we get back from this crazy mission, you need to send her a message," Karé stated, standing up and stretching her long legs. 

Poe shook his head. He wasn't sure that was going to do any good.

Karé looked at him incredulously. "You want a chance with her or not? Send her a damn message, Commander."

Iolo stood with her and nodded in agreement. "She's right, Poe. You've been pining away for the girl for the last five years. I'd send her a message, Commander."

"Are you two giving me orders now?"

"If I were you," Kaleb drawled, as the other two pilots left Poe's quarters, "I'd listen to them. Are you afraid that she won't want to talk to you?"

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. Yes, Poe was afraid that she wouldn't want to speak to him, that she wouldn't want anything to do with him. Did she still love him? _Only one way to find out... you need to talk to her._ Poe heard Kaleb tell him that he'd programed BB-8 with Evelyn's comm code, and then the pilot was left alone in his quarters. BB-8 looked up at him, expectantly. Poe sighed and nodded. "Yeah... yeah... let's record a message for her."

BB-8 rolled in front of him, beeping happily as if to encourage Poe. The pilot chuckled; before everything had fallen apart, Poe could have sworn that BB-8 loved Evelyn more than he did. In fact, he was surprised the little droid had not contacted Evelyn himself. 

Poe took a deep breath, staring at his droid. He was usually good with words, but right now, when he was faced with having to speak to Evelyn... he just didn't know what to say. _Too much, there's too much I have to say,_ he thought before beginning. "Hi, Evie," he said, softly, voice thick with emotion. "This message is probably weeks... no years...overdue. I hated myself for how I left things, truth was, I wanted to turn around the moment I walked away. I was a coward. I'm not asking for your forgiveness, Evelyn. I've been reassigned to D'Qar. I'm hoping we can talk. There are things that I just... that have to be said in person. Just know how sorry I am... I've missed you...I've missed you so much."

Another deep breath and Poe reached forward to stop the recording. BB-8 beeped happily and immediately sent the message. Shakily, Poe reached out and touched the little droid's head, "Thanks, buddy."

BB-8 watched his master for a moment, rocking back and forth, slightly. He inquired about Poe's mood; shouldn't Poe be happy that he'd sent that message? After all, Poe had spent the last five years debating if he should reach out to her.

Smiling, wistfully, Poe shook his head. "It's complicated, BeeBee. No one can know the Resistance exists, yet everyone knows it exists. Plus, I hurt her, badly. Sending her a message might not be...well received."

The droid was rightfully confused by his statement. Human interactions and emotions were something that BB-8 was still trying to figure out. Poe gently scratched his side and told him to shut down for the evening. In the morning, Poe was going on a mission without him, and he hated being left behind. "Don't worry," Poe assured him as he settled in for the night, "I'll come back; I always do."


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some dialogue was taken from Before the Awakening, chapter is adaption of the one in the book.

**_Uvoss System_ **

" _This is more boring then listening to Ben drone on about ancient Jedi texts,"_ Kaleb complained over the commline. 

"If you're feeling nostalgic," Poe teased, "I think I remember a few of those lectures by heart. I could recite one for you, if you'd like."

Kaleb groaned as if someone had stabbed him in the gut. " _Don't you dare."_

Poe chuckled. He would have to agree that just waiting around for their target to emerge from hyperspace was boring, and uncomfortable because of the EVA suit he was wearing. However, time was of the essence and comfort had to be tossed aside. "The ironic thing is, if I did recite one for you, you'd still be forced to listen to it. When we were kids it was your mother, insisting that we be nice... now it's your aunt, ordering you to sit here and wait in this system for the senator's yacht to show up."

Iolo's voice came over the commline next, alerting his squad mates that his eyes had picked up what they could not. " _As much as I'd love to walk down memory lane with the two of you...we're about to having company, so get ready Commander."_

Taking a deep breath, Poe somehow managed to get his Headhunter started. Their target—the _Hevurion Grace—_ burst forth from hyperspace into real space. This had to be one of the craziest stunts they had ever pulled off; stealing a Republic senator's personal yacht. Poe briefly wondered what his father would say about all this as he watched his squamates fire modified concussion missiles to disable the ship. One missile impacted high on the yacht’s stern, the second detonating on its proximity, off the bow. Bolts of energy exploded, blue tendrils snaked over the hull, dancing and sparking.

 _Here goes nothing,_ Poe thought as he set his fighter to auto-pilot and began the ejecting sequence. He heard the canopy blast away, felt the harness snap away from his body, and then he was shooting upwards. His refitted Headhunter disappeared underneath him, his breath fogged the inside of his helmet, and soon, he was hurtling through space, heading towards the hull of the disabled yacht at much too fast a pace. 

Poe activated the EVA suits jets a fraction of a second too late. There was not enough time to slow down. He slammed into the _Grace's_ hull, his head snapping back inside his helmet so hard that for a brief moment he saw stars. He had to work through the pain, the timer counting down what little they had left on the inside of his helmet was not going to stop just because his head hurt. Clumsily he climbed along the hull of the yacht and found the hatch. 

He had already wasted two minutes, however, he had to chuckle silently to himself as he surprised the Senator and his crew—Han Solo had always joked that Poe could pass as a pirate.

“Do you even know who I am?” the Senator gasped.

“Out! Now!” Poe shouted, firing his blaster into the floor, his voice distorted by the EVA mask.

There was a little satisfaction as Poe watched the Senator, his aide, and his pilot run to the escape pods and launch. Pulling off the helmet, Poe stepped up to the controls. Because BB-8 wouldn’t fit in the headhunter, the droid had to be left behind—much to his chagrin. Poe was going to have to calculate the jump to lightspeed by himself. “Time,” he said into his commlink.

“ _Five minutes and thirty seconds,”_ Kaleb responded. “ _How was that landing? Looked painful from here.”_

“Shut up, Kaleb,” Poe snapped, working on the calculations. “You slam into a starship and tell me how you feel afterwards, okay?”

“ _Well, first of all, I wouldn’t slam into that ship. I’d have the Force on my side.”_

“Not all of us have that luxury, Skywalker.”

“ _Oh, someone gets testy after colliding with a Pinnacle-class yacht.”_

Poe rolled his eyes and continued to work on the calculations. The comms went silent while he worked, as the three pilots awaited his orders to make the jump back to the _Echo of Hope._ He had about three minutes left when Iolo broke that silence, uttering, _“Uh-oh.”_

He didn’t like the sound of that. Poe raised his eyes, searching space beyond the cockpit canopy. “Uh-oh, what do you mean, uh-oh? I’m supposed to have another three minutes!” He snapped, just before two Star Destroyers snapped into view from hyperspace. “First Order! Kaleb, Karé, Iolo, make the jump!”

Kaleb responded, “ _How long until you can make the jump yourself?”_

Gritting his teeth, Poe watched as TIEs launched from the belly of one of the Star Destroyers—a _Resurgent class,_ newer model—the concussion missiles had practically reset every system on _Hevruion Grace._ “Forty, forty-five seconds. I’ll be right behind you. Don’t worry about me, I can evade these thugs that long. Now, make the jump!”

 _“Did anyone ever tell you that you’re a terrible liar, Commander?”_ Iolo replied. “ _You probably have about a minute to a minute a half before you can make the jump yourself.”_

“I am not a terrible liar,” Poe argued, watching closely as the hyperdrive slowly charged up.

“ _We’ll keep them off your back,”_ Karé said.

“ _You just need to make that a little harder for them,”_ Kaleb pointed out.

Poe fired up the ion thrusters. “Just so you know, the three of you are disobeying my orders. Don’t think I’ll forget this.”

Iolo chuckled. _“You can court martial us later, sir._ ”

It didn’t take long for Poe to realize that the First Order was serious about stopping the _Hevurion Grace_. The first flight of TIEs, eighteen of them by his count, blew straight past Kaleb, Iolo and Karé in their Z-95s, barreling towards Poe and the yacht. 

Deftly, Poe’s fingers glided over the controls. The ship was surprisingly maneuverable, and it shot forward with a burst of speed as he opened the thrusters and banked hard, making for the nearest of the Uvoss gas giants. He wanted to put as much space as possible between himself and the First Order ships; and the First Order ships, he’d noted, which were closing on him, albeit much more slowly than the TIEs.

The TIEs were on him as soon as he completed the turn, beginning his run for the gas giant. Kaleb, Iolo and Karé brought their Z-95s into tight, combat-Corellian turns, coming into line on the tails of the First Order fighters. In a span of twenty seconds, Poe’s comrades had cut the initial force of eighteen down to nine before the remaining TIEs broke off their pursuit, for the moment more concerned with staying alive. Karé bagged another two on the breakaway, and Iolo took out one more.

“Leave some for the rest of us,” Poe said.

“ _You snooze, you lose_ ,” Karé said. “ _Time until jump? For real, please, Commander_.”

Poe checked the charge meter, did the math quickly in his head. “Another forty seconds.” A turbolaser blast cut a path in front of him, the shot close and bright; Poe flinched. In an instant, the yacht bucked, rocking as blasts from two strafing TIEs cut across the top of the hull. The controls were screaming at him. “Ah, guys, a little help here,” Poe quipped.

Kaleb responded, his Z-95 swooping low and across the hull of the yacht, taking out the TIE fighter with one blast. “ _You’re welcome, Commander.”_

“I didn’t think I had to ask,” Poe snapped.

“ _It’s the polite thing to do,”_ Kaleb responded and his friend could almost see the grin on his face.

“ _That Resurgent class is closing fast_ ,” Karé pointed out, interrupting their banter.

“You guys need to go, now,” Poe said.

“ _Right after you do_.”

Poe cursed, wondering how much authority he had to actually court martial all three of them when they made it back to the _Echo of Hope._ It would certainly be interesting to see how bringing charges up against the General’s nephew was going to go over. He had to make a choice; Poe could continue racing for the gas giant in the hope that the massive planet’s gravity would scare Star Destroyers and TIES off his trail, or…

“Head for that Resurgent class,” Poe ordered.

“ _Say what now_?” Karé asked.

“ _One hit from those turbolasers and we’re done_ ,” Iolo said.

“And one hit from those turbolasers, those TIEs are done, too,” Poe replied.

“ _That close, you’re vulnerable to their tractor beams_ —” Kaleb argued.

“Resurgent beam emitters are to the prow,” Poe informed them. “Don’t go at them from the front.”

“ _Oh, okay then, that settles it,”_ Kaleb responded, somewhat sarcastically. “ _Charge the Star Destroyer. Coming Karé, Iolo?”_

“ _Do we have much of a choice?”_ Iolo questioned.

Poe swung the yacht about, heading straight for Resurgent class Star Destroyer. “You could leave,” he said, even as he noticed the three Z-95s came to his starboard side and then staggered back to cover him and each other. “That option is still wide open, guys. In fact, I highly recommend it.”

Iolo chuckled. “ _And miss this? Karé would never let me hear the end of it.”_

Karé sighed, “ _This is true.”_

The Resurgent class was drawing closer. A turbolaser blast detonated perhaps only a half kilometer in front of Poe, and he felt the _Hevurion Grace_ shudder as he sped through the scattering energy an instant later. He was, despite his own advice, barreling towards the prow, with TIEs closing in from his right and behind. The yacht had never been built for combat, but that didn’t mean it was defenseless. It boasted a single dual-cannon turret, affixed to its dorsal side, near the tail. Poe observed that it was fully automated. He put the yacht into a sharp wingover and bled off some of his speed while reorienting away from the bow of the Resurgent class, which was now looming large before him. This particular move brought two of the TIEs in close, and Poe hit the actuator on the turret and felt more than heard the gun opening fire. The salvo cut the two nearest TIEs to pieces and clipped two more that had been following close behind. The pursuers banked away, trying to reform and gain a new attack angle on the yacht.

_“Iolo! Watch it!”_

_“I’ve got no room!”_

_“Cut port, cut port, I’ll pick him up!”_

Static burst across the comm and fizzled, followed by a fraction of a second’s silence that felt much, much longer. Then Iolo’s voice: “ _—hit, been hit, losing power—_ ”

Poe felt his heart beating wildly against his chest. He was not prepared to lose another one of his squadmates, not this soon after Muran’s death. “Iolo, jump,” the Commander said. “Go!”

Iolo’s voice sounded strained over the commline. “ _Not without you, Commander!_ ”

The turbolasers from the Resurgent class were firing almost constantly. One of the yacht’s ion thrusters flickered, then released its charge, but at the same moment the hyperdrive motivator announced it was now prepared to initiate the jump to lightspeed. Another blast detonated close to the cockpit; Poe feared the canopy was about to shatter. “We’re leaving together. Break off and jump to lightspeed!”

He yanked back on the yoke so hard that his head against the seat and for a moment stars exploded behind his eyes. The Resurgent class went from beneath him and ahead to somehow below and behind, He was climbing fast, spinning in the ascent, and he could see the Z-95s, if only for an instant, similarly trying to turn onto their jump vectors. Now that their target was away from the Star Destroyer, the TIEs were once again in pursuit, their incoming fire blurring with the resumption the First Order's barrages.

“Jump! Go!” Poe ordered, desperately.

Karé’s fighter went first, stretched and vanished; Kaleb and Iolo’s followed. Poe reached for the jump initiator, pulled it smoothly back, and _Hevurion Grace_ reverberated around him. The TIEs and the frigate and the Star Destroyers and everything of Uvoss disappeared, replaced by the hypnotizing swirl of the hyperspace tunnel.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poe and Evelyn finally see each other after five years.

Every muscle in his body ached from crashing into the hull of the _Hevurion Grace_. The mission had been a success though, and truthfully at the end of the day, that was all that mattered.

Still wearing the EVA suit, minus the helmet and gloves, Poe landed the new stolen _Pinnacle-_ class yacht in the hanger of the _Echo of Hope_. Flipping a few switches, he shut the engines down and sighed, heavily. It was still sinking in that they had pulled a heist like this off, that they had managed to steal a senator’s personal ship— _a senator that has been passing information along to the First Order all this time,_ Poe reminded himself. _So, it’s not really treason… is it?_

He found that he was incredibly angry. Poe might have disobeyed orders when he suspected the First Order was up to something, and then joined the Resistance, but he was doing it because he felt it was the right thing to do, to protect the Republic. The senator was freely handing information over to the First Order, was so deeply embedded with them that he sent a distress signal to General Hux rather than to the Republic. 

Poe let out a slow breath and stood on shaky legs. He had slammed into the side of the yacht pretty good and knew that he’d be covered in bruises later. Dropping the main ramp, Poe descended into the hanger. General Organa’s golden protocol droid, C-3PO shuffled by him, greeting him and then stating that he needed to check the computers. Poe turned slightly to watch as the droid disappeared onto the yacht, and then, as painful as it was, he turned back towards his mates.

Karé, Kaleb, and Iolo were waiting for them. For the longest time the four of them just stood there, looking at each other, and then Karé started laughing, and pulled him into her arms, hugging the commander, tightly. “We just charged a _Resurgent-_ class Star Destroyer!” she gasped, “and lived to tell the tale!”

“Imagine the look on General Hux’s face when he hears that his army was outsmarted by a luxury yacht and three ancient Z-95 Headhunters,” Iolo chuckled, slapping Poe on the back.

“I’d pay good money to see that,” Poe quipped, tossing his fellow pilots a grin. “Bet a few veins pop out on his pasty forehead.”

“They never even saw us coming,” Kaleb replied, smiling, broadly. 

“Muran would have loved to have seen that!” Iolo added.

Poe felt a tug at his heart. Even though Lieutenant Muran had been killed in action weeks before when his X-wing got caught in the wake of the _Yissira Zyde—_ a ship that the First Order had stolen—it was still incredibly painful. He was astutely aware that the mood around his pilots had changed. “Go get cleaned up,” Poe told them, “and then we’ll meet in my quarters to toast Muran.” He watched as Kaleb, Karé and Iolo left the hanger and he was filled with a sense of nostalgia. He missed working with Kun and Arana, it was true that they were both exceptional pilots and were doing a hell of a job leading their own squadrons—but it was the familiarity of flying with them that had Poe certain he was going to come back from this mission.

Leia approached him while he was lost in this thought, and Poe wasn’t even aware that she was standing there with him, until he heard her say, “Flyboys. You’re all the same.”

He tossed her a smile. “Some of us are fly _girls._ ”

She nodded in agreement. “Captain Kun is an exceptional pilot, as is Captain Arana for that matter—but it’s rare a pilot that engages one frigate and two Star Destroyers and lives to tell the tale.”

“Word travels fast.”

“That it does.”

“Princess Leia,” Threepio called from the yacht, “I think that perhaps you should come and see this.”

Leia sighed, heavily. “It’s never anything good when he says that.”

Poe glanced over his shoulder and then back at Leia. “Is there anything I can do, ma’am?”

“No,” Leia said with a shake of her head, she then smiled. “Go on, Poe. We both know that you want to go find out if she contacted you."

"General, if you need me right now..."

"Don't; you've put your duty before her enough."

He finally got what she was hinting at, and his heart fluttered. Poe simply nodded and turned on his heel, heading back towards his quarters. BB-8 met him halfway there, shrieking excitedly; Evelyn _had_ contacted him. The little droid had been waiting for hours to let his master know that she had reached out to him shortly after the four pilots had left on their mission. BB-8 was so excited, he wanted to play the message right there in the corridor, but Poe managed to convince the droid to head back to his quarters.

Her message was private, only intended, he was sure, for him to hear. BB-8 still didn't quite understand human emotions and privacy. The droid was one of the reasons that Karé and Iolo knew so much about his love life. Poe couldn't fault his droid though, the little guy really did just want his master to be happy. 

Once inside his quarters, Poe extracted himself from the rest of the EVA suit and gestured towards BB-8 to play the message from Evelyn. He sat on the edge of his bunk, holding his breath as BB-8 projected her image. Slowly, he let out the breath he was holding, seeing her face for the first time in five years. She was still incredibly beautiful, and his heart still longed for her, especially when a sad smile spread across her face before she began speaking. "Hi," she said softly, "I know you wanted us to talk in person... and you're right... there are some things that we have to discuss in person... but I just... before you arrived here, I wanted to let you know... that I missed you too, Poe."

Poe felt a stirring of hope deep within him, as her image faded away and BB-8 chirped, asking the pilot a question. He chuckled. "No, we're not back together, BeeBee." _At least not yet._

BB-8 didn't understand _why._ Poe smiled, sadly as he got up from the bunk to go take a quick shower. It was going to feel good to wash away the grime from the last mission, ease the aches and pains in his muscles. There was still a lot of work to do, but for the first time in a long time, Poe felt hopeful.

* * *

Evelyn must have played his short message a hundred times since she received it. _I've been reassigned to D'Qar. I'm hoping we can talk. There are things that I just... that have to be said in person._ _Just know how sorry I am... I've missed you...I've missed you so much_. His warm voice had filled her quarters, sent an assault of emotions through her body, but that didn't stop her from playing it over and over again, just to hear him speak to her for the first time in five years.

It also didn't stop her from sending a message back to him, letting him know that she missed him too.

Jess would probably call her a hopeless romantic, which is why she never told her friends that Poe had contacted her and that she in return contacted him. When word came down that Poe would be arriving on D'Qar that morning, Evelyn had found an excuse to disappear from the flight pad, deciding that reuniting in front of all those people actually sent a surge of anxiety through her. Instead, _s_ he hooked CB-2 up to her fighter, and tried to figure out why it was sluggish jumping to light speed. In a dogfight that could mean life or death, and she'd rather not take any chances. It also postponed her reunion with Poe.

Right before her aunt had left for the _Echo of Hope,_ she had informed Evelyn that she was eventually ordering Poe to D'Qar. Evelyn knew it was coming, Leia couldn't keep her wing commander stationed out on a cruiser forever just because her niece wasn't ready to face him. Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, she sighed heavily. Pulling back, she told her droid to run the diagnostic again. Immediately the wires began to spark and Evelyn gasped in pain as her left hand was burned. Stumbling backwards, she shouted, "CeeBee! Stop! Stop! Shut it down!"

CB-2 moaned sorrowfully when she saw that the young woman's hand was burned and bleeding. Evelyn waved the droid off with her good hand and went to find the medical kit she kept locked in her X-wing's storage compartment. It was a struggle to get it open though with one good hand, and with everyone else otherwise occupied wanting to get a glimpse at their new wing commander, she really had no one to help her. She was so focused on getting the medkit out that she wasn't aware she was no longer alone in the hanger.

"Here, let me get that for you," Poe said, softly, reserved, behind her.

Evelyn swallowed hard, as her heart rate picked up, and she closed her eyes, stepping away from the fighter. She heard him open the hatch, grabbed the med kit and then slam the hatch shut. His fingers brushed her good hand, and instinctively she latched on, allowing him to guide her to a nearby crate she could sit on. It was then that she dared to open her eyes. Deep, rich brown eyes rose to meet hers and instantly her breath hitched as he smiled. His hair was a bit longer, there were a few more faint lines around his eyes, but otherwise, he looked exactly as she remembered him, even down to the leather jacket. "You still have the same jacket."

Poe placed the med kit near him and opened it, looking for what he would need to treat her injured hand. His smile broadened. "You cut your hair," he pointed out, reminding her that the last time she'd seen him, her hair had been much longer than it was now. Gently, he took her injured hand in his own, turning it over so her palm was facing upwards. "Still not an expert on wiring yet, huh?"

She shrugged. "I hadn't burnt myself this week until just now."

He laughed, hoarsely and rubbed some antiseptic on the wound. "A graceful Jedi warrior, but a clumsy mechanic."

"I'm not a Jedi," Evelyn mumbled, casting her eyes downward. "I swore that life off five years ago."

At this statement, Poe quirked an eyebrow, but he didn't pursue the matter; she was letting him touch her, letting him sit there and talk to her like everything was _normal_ between them. He was not about to ruin his chances by asking what she meant by her statements. He gently cleaned the wound before applying some bacta ointment. "Why didn't you just have one of the mechanics work on your fighter?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that CB-2 rolled a bit closer. Evelyn glanced at the little droid, needing somewhere else to look besides Poe's handsome face. "They were all too busy up on the flight pad waiting to get a glimpse of you. Your heroics acquiring the _Hevurion Grace_ have given you quite the reputation. And anyways, since it was so quiet back here, I thought I could do it myself.”

Poe felt his heart sink into his stomach. He'd had his suspicions why she had not been a presence on the flight pad; they were now confirmed. "You didn't want to see me," he whispered, voice breaking slightly, "that's why you're hiding back here, in the hanger."

Evelyn felt the tears begin to prick the backs of her eyes. "I didn’t…I didn’t think… seeing you again… in front of all those people…was the best place to see you for the first time.. since… how our last meeting went…”

He could hear the pain in her voice and his heart shattered. Silently, he finished treating her hand and put the supplies back in her med kit. Poe set her hand away from him, in her lap, watching as her tear-filled eyes rose to meet him. He offered a sad smile. "I'd have the med bay check that out later, just to make sure it's healing and not getting infected." 

She nodded but couldn't speak. If she did, she'd end up sobbing. So, she sat there as he went to put the med kit back in her fighter, as he turned to face her once again but stayed next to the X-wing as their closeness now would be deemed inappropriate for a commanding officer and subordinate, because in reality that's all they were now. 

"I know there's nothing I can say, Evelyn, to make it better. Just know that...I'm sorry...for all of it," Poe whispered before he proceeded to duck under her fighter and disappear into the base. 

After he was gone was when the tears finally let loose and Evelyn buried her face in her knees and cried. _Poe, please... please come back!_ she wanted to shout for him, wanted him to turn around and run to her; she wanted him to just hold her…

CB-2 brushed against her, trying to provide some form of comfort. For whatever reason, this only made her cry harder, sobs racking her body as years of pent pain was unleashed. 

It wasn't until a woodsy, mixed with motor oil scent, filled her nostrils that she became aware that Poe had returned, that his arms were wrapping around her and pulling her close to him; that his voice was whispering in her ear that he was here now and this time, he was not walking away… She clung to his jacket, his favorite jacket, and buried her face in his shirt. She nuzzled his shoulder, feeling his arms tighten their hold on her. 

Poe wasn't a fool, he knew that they still had a long way to go before they could ever get back to where they were before. However, they were moving beyond the grieving process; they were moving towards healing. Pulling away from her, he raised one hand to wipe the tears away, but then he reached for the glowing pendant, brow furrowing in curiosity. He was surprised she had even kept the pendant, let alone wore it after he had given it to her just before literally turning his back on her. "You kept this?" he rasped, fingers running along the edges of the crystal.

Evelyn reached up and covered his hand with her own. "Of course I kept it. You gave it to me, it meant...it meant something coming from you. I couldn't part with that, Poe."

_It meant I love you,_ he thought, swallowing anxiously. Poe could feel the crystal's warmth underneath his fingers just before he raised his hands to her face and wiped the tears away. "I'm not leaving this time, Evelyn. I know that I have to fight to prove that to you, that I have to fight for this...and I will, no matter how long it takes.”

“I’m just glad you’re here now,” she whispered.

“Me too,” he whispered back, resting his forehead against hers. “I never should have put my oath before you. I was a coward; it was easier sticking with what I knew than to take that leap.”

“Poe, I never thought you were a coward.”

“You should have, Evelyn. I _ran_ from you.”

Carefully, she raised her chin, her nose brushing against his. She knew how close her lips were to his and she longed for him to kiss her…

He leaned in as if he was going to kiss her, but then pulled back. Holding his hand out to her, Poe whispered, “Let’s get out of here.”

* * *

"General Organa," Connix announced, getting the attention of Leia. "You're going to want to hear this."

"What is it Lieutenant?" Leia asked, moving across the command center towards the young woman.

Connix took her headset off and handed it to Leia. "Intel report from a small, privately ran outpost just on the outskirts of the Unknown Regions. The First Order invaded there, looking for the stolen plans of their base. Intel believes that this is where Agent Lothor ended up, they still haven't heard from him."

Leia put the headset on and listened to the message. She had not felt right about this all morning. It was not unusual for their spies to remain silent for days, but Agent Lothor had escaped the First Order's base five days ago. Leia had been hoping they would hear something by now. If the plans were to fall back into the hands of the First Order, she wasn't sure the Resistance would be prepared for when the time came to launch an attack against their base. Sighing, she held the headset out. "Keep monitoring the situation. There could be any number of reasons why Agent Lothor hasn't contacted us yet and find Commander Dameron; he should have reported into central command by now.”


	8. Chapter 8

She led him to a spot at the edge of the lake. Immediately, Poe recognized it as the spot he’d seen her in his dream. Evelyn stepped to the edge of the lake, turned towards him and smiled. Stars, he had not forgotten how beautiful her smile was, but seeing it in person for the first time in years caused little butterflies to flutter in his stomach. “I come here all the time, to get away, I think it’s the most beautiful spot on the planet," she said, somewhat breaking his trance.

He smiled, softly, his brown eyes watching her more than taking in the scene around him. Moving towards her, Poe picked a few small white flowers from a nearby bush and went to place them in her braid. “Yeah, beautiful,” he murmured, letting his fingers linger in her hair, eyes soaking in the sight of her.

Evelyn blushed when they made eye contact. “You’re only saying that because you’ve only seen a cockpit for hours.”

Poe shook his head. “No; I’m saying it because it’s true. Yes, the view is beautiful, but so are you.” _Has it really been that long since someone told you how beautiful you are?_

“I guess I just haven’t felt beautiful in a long time,” she said with a sad shrug.

“Why’s that?” he asked, concerned about the hurt in her tone of voice. “Did someone not treat you right?”

“It’s nothing,” Evelyn responded, shaking her head. “It’s not like I felt a damn thing for him.”

“Oh, Evie,” Poe whispered, stroking her hair between his fingers. “You must have felt _something_ for him, otherwise, you wouldn’t be so upset.”

Glancing away, because she felt the tears beginning to pool in her eyes, Evelyn sighed. “I should have known that falling in love with a spy was a bad idea, but I fell for his charms anyways. It turns out, that I was nothing but an urge killer between missions for him. it made me feel… it made me feel like I was worthless.”

Poe felt a swell of emotions in his chest; heartbreak for her, pure fury at the man who had treated her like she was nothing; anger at himself because if he had stayed, she never would have had her heart broken. “You’re not worthless,” he assured her, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, “at least not to me. If that ass couldn’t see your worth, Evelyn, he’s the one _not_ worth it. I wouldn't give him another thought if I were you.”

Evelyn attempted to blink her tears away but a few of them managed to escape. It was after that disaster of a so-called relationship that she’d found herself longing to hear Poe’s voice once again, and now he was here, standing with her, looking ready to break someone’s arm for her. He might have left her, he might have walked away, but she never doubted her worth when she was around him. She never doubted how much he cared about her. “I know that now, and besides, as soon as he realized I wanted more, he hightailed it out of here on his next mission. Then… you showed up…”

"So, where do we go from here?" Poe whispered, his thumb caressing her cheek. 

"I don't know," Evelyn replied, honestly. "I never thought I'd see you again."

Poe sighed, heavily. He shook his head. "Here I am talking about treating you right, showing you that you’re worth it, when I wasn’t the best example.” He rested his palm on her cheek, searching her eyes. "I know everything between us isn't magically fixed, and I'm not asking you to...be with me right now. I get it, you need time, you need space."

Evelyn pressed her face into his palm as she leaned in closer to him. "I'm not opposed to us being together." Her hand lazily grabbed his free one, playing with his fingers. "I just don't think we can pick up where we left off."

"Ah, so what you're saying is, you want to be swept off your feet, Lieutenant."

"Maybe not swept off my feet but most women like to be romanced, Commander."

He laughed and placed a feather like kiss on her forehead. His heart soared with the possibility that they had a chance, of getting back what they had before he had thrown it away and turned his back on her. Poe took a deep breath and once again caressed her cheek, this time with the tips of his fingers. He then took her hand, the one linked with his, and brushed a soft kiss across her knuckles. "Romanced, huh? I think I can handle that..."

She felt a magnetic pull towards him, maybe they could pick up where they left off…

…Poe stepped back, giving her hand a squeeze, ending their tender moment.

"I should probably get back. Your aunt is going to be looking for me."

"Probably wouldn't look good if our wing commander was late for his first briefing on base."

_You're doing it again, Dameron, putting duty before her. Just once... put her before duty._ He took her hand and used it to guide her into a sitting position, next to him in the sand by the lake. Poe smiled at her, softly. "You know what, they can wait a few more minutes. I'll just tell them I was busy catching up with an old friend, and that was more important."

* * *

Kaleb had been given the task of tracking Poe down. _That_ was easier said then done because no one had seen the commander since he'd arrived that morning. Leia eventually had called her nephew back to central command to begin a briefing and they'd deal with Poe's disappearance later... when Poe came confidently striding into the situation room. "It's been hours!" Kaleb exclaimed. "Where have you been?"

Poe's brow furrowed in confusion. "Hours?" he repeated. _Was I really with Evelyn that long?_ "BeeBee and I went to explore a little, guess I lost track of the time, that's all."

His friend took a step back, realization dawning on his face. "You were with Evelyn? She's the only one that you would lose track of time for." Kaleb grabbed Poe by the arm, ran his blue eyes over him as if he was making sure Poe was fine. "Well, it doesn't look like she took a swing at you. That's a good sign."

The commander swallowed. "She burnt her hand fixing her fighter; I treated it." _And then apparently I just... lost all track of time with her by the lake._ He knew that they had a lot more to discuss before they could ever try at a relationship again and the stakes were much higher this time, but Kaleb was right... at least Evelyn had not taken a swing at him even if he thought he did deserve it. Poe cracked a smile then. "Maybe she knew you already did it for her."

Leia stepped into the room then, followed by Major Ematt and Major Brance. "Commander, I see you finally found your way here," she said, with a slight smile. She knew just as much as Kaleb did that Poe had been with Evelyn.

"I needed to be... I needed to be somewhere else."

"I know. However, now that you're here, I have a mission for you."

"Yes, ma'am."

She glanced towards Kaleb and then back at Poe. "We lost contact with one of our agents that had infiltrated the First Order. He pulled out recently, felt that his cover had been blown. We haven't been able to recover any of the intel that he obtained for us."

He quirked an eyebrow. "It could be in anyone's hands at this point, General," Poe stated. 

"Do we have any idea where he might have gone?" Kaleb questioned.

"Unfortunately, at this point we do not," Major Ematt replied. "The base that his last transmission was sent from has not responded to our calls."

Poe felt a chill run up his spine. "What would you like us to do, General?"

Leia set her jaw. This was the part she hated, sending out the _children_ of men and women she had fought with during the Rebellion, sending out her niece and nephew. "How fast do you think you can fill that last spot on your squadron?" she asked Poe. 

"Oh well, I have a few ideas already." 

"So, today then?"

"By the end of the day, yes, of course.

"You have two hours before your squadron is briefed."

"Like I said, I only need two hours," Poe repeated, smiling, drily. 

"We need to move quickly. That information is vital to our survival," Leia replied.

* * *

If they were trying to be discrete, showing up midday, on the flight pad _together_ was not the way to go about it. Evelyn and Poe tried to act nonchalant about their emergence from the forest together, but all eyes were drawn to them almost instantaneously. Immediately, the commander was called away to central command—apparently, they had been looking for him for well over an hour, maybe more, and it was then that she realized Poe had shut his commlink off. He really was trying to make an effort to put her before his duty this time…

"Where have you been?" Jess asked when Evelyn appeared near her fighter, trying to look inconspicuous. "No one has seen you since this morning. L'ulo was close to sending out the guards."

"I went for a walk," Evelyn replied with a shrug as she moved towards her fighter. She had not meant to be away from the flight pad for so long; he just made it so easy to lose all track of time, to forget about everything else going on in the galaxy.

Jess quirked an eyebrow. "A walk?" she repeated, not entirely convinced. She’d heard the whispers that Evelyn had left the hanger that morning with Commander Dameron and they’d been seen, holding hands, heading out into the forest. She reached out and plucked the white flowers from her hair. "Did you go alone? Ceebee was here, frantic by the way. You might want to tell your droid where you're disappearing too before you know, you actually disappear."

Evelyn frowned and removed the remaining flowers from her hair. She thought that the droid had seen her leave the hanger with Poe. "I'll make sure I apologize," she teased her friend just as CB-2 rolled out from underneath her fighter, letting out a series of frantic beeps. Evelyn dropped to her knees and offered the little droid some reassuring pats on her round body, smiling. "I'm fine, I just went for a walk with a friend."

CB-2 looked towards Jess, then towards someone else moving across the flight pad. Jess turned her eyes in that direction to see Poe, changed into a flight suit, the top half tied around his waist and wearing a tee shirt that showed off his toned arms. Already she could see that the attractive commander was having an effect on the female pilots and mechanics around him. _Okay, some of the men too,_ Jess admitted silently, _and one Evelyn Skywalker,_ she realized as she looked back at her squad mate. 

Poe must have sensed the two women were looking at him and he tossed them a charming smile. Jess suddenly understood why he made so many swoon. She watched as his eyes locked onto Evelyn’s, as his smile broadened and sent color to her cheeks. “Yeah, you went for a walk _alone,_ ” she teased, then she gestured for CB-2 to come with her, “let’s give these two sometime by themselves.”

"Hey!" Evelyn protested as CB-2 followed, reluctantly behind Jess. "How am I supposed to work on my fighter?"

"You burnt yourself once already today!" Jess called back. "You're not making any repairs, flygirl!"

"Flygirl?" Poe repeated behind her. She turned to see him, grinning at her. 

"It's a nickname she gave me; I hate it."

"I think it's cute."

She rolled her eyes. "Of course, you would," Evelyn countered. Suddenly, there was a rush of orange and white and Evelyn felt herself falling backwards, landing on her bottom, the air rushing from her lungs.

He cursed. "BeeBee! Easy! I know you're excited to see her but don't run her over!" Poe placed one hand on the excited little droid's dome head and held his other hand out to her, helping her to her feet. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Evelyn shook her head and smiled down at BB-8. "It's okay," she said, scratching the belly of the droid. "I'm happy to see him too."

BB-8 warbled, happily. Poe smiled and then noticed that even though everyone was appearing to be working, they were really watching their new wing commander and Evelyn. He wondered how much any of them knew. With Iolo and Karé around, it was possible that the entire star corps was going to know Poe and Evelyn's history by lunch, which made the two of them stand there, awkwardly looking at one another not sure how to proceed when all eyes were on them. It was easier in secret, when the base wasn't prying into their business. 

Moving towards her, Poe stood as close to her as he could without touching her. “I'm sorry; it appears that the whole starfighter corps is talking about it—us, our past. Now, I’m pretty sure that it was Iolo and Karé that started the whole thing and if either one of them mentions we need to clear the air one more time—I’m giving them sanitation duties.”

She managed to keep her cool, how, she wasn’t sure. He was so close to her, she could smell the faint hint of the soap he used, which sent a rush of emotions and physical heat through her body. She wanted him to touch her like he had earlier, when they had found the quiet spot in the forest. Evelyn locked eyes with him, her knees weakening at the desire bursting within their gaze. “I could see Iolo with a mop.”

Poe chuckled. He lifted one hand as if he was going to touch her, but then quickly put it down. “Listen, Evelyn, you’re one of the best pilots here and I trust you—I want you to take that last spot in my squadron, but I need to know that the past—our past—isn’t going to get in the way of our future.”

Evelyn felt her breath hitch, what did he mean by that? Was he questioning if she would be able to fly missions with him given their history, or was he asking her if he had a chance with her? _Didn’t I make that clear? Is he just being overly cautious?_ “If you’re asking me if I can fly with you and not let our past or what happened between us get in the way—then the answer is yes, I can.”

He smiled at her; the smile reaching his eyes. Having her join his squadron was either a brilliant idea or a horrible one. "We have a briefing with General Organa in two hours," Poe informed her before walking away.

She stood there, aware that others had been watching them, aware that she didn’t really care that everyone had been watching. A faint smile crossed her face; Poe _wanted_ her for his squadron, not some seasoned Republic Navy pilot-- _her._ Evelyn knew she was good, but there were some that resented her for being assigned the rank of Lieutenant when she had no previous experience in the military. Poe's move to put her on Black Squadron was as silent demand to the rest of the pilots to respect her skills. 

As she turned to go back to work on her fighter, she caught sight of Poe watching her, a small smile on his face. She felt heat rush to her cheeks and behind her she heard Jess chuckle, commenting that she was _totally_ head over heels for their wing commander.

Evelyn didn't even try to deny it this time.


	9. Chapter 9

Poe was standing at the holotable in the situation room when Evelyn entered; he couldn't stop the small smile that spread across his face as BB-8 and CB-2 followed behind her, like little bantha cubs. He had wondered where his droid had gone, now he knew; BB-8 was with Evelyn. His little companion had always been enamored with Evelyn because she treated him with respect, much like Poe treated him. There were times Poe questioned if the droid loved her more than he did.

Evelyn looked up then and saw him smiling at her. Instantly, she blushed, which only made Poe's smile grow. She adverted her eyes as the other pilots began to file into the situation room. It took a few moments for her to look back up, waiting while Snap and Jessika took their positions at the holotable. Evelyn should have been surprised that he was still looking at her, still smiling at her slightly, but she wasn't. For a brief moment, their eyes locked and it was as if she was the only other person in the room with him. She felt her heart flutter; _no one_ looked at her like the way Poe did.

He didn't look away until Leia entered the room, Major Caluan Ematt following behind her. Poe immediately noticed Ematt's concern upon seeing Evelyn in that room. The Major had been good friends with the Solos and Skywalkers, Ematt had watched the Skywalker children grow up. Poe was certain that the former Rebellion solider was having trouble separating the little girl from the young woman she had become, but Poe knew that Evelyn was more than capable of the challenges ahead of them. _She's the daughter of two top notch pilots and one of which was a Jedi Knight._

Leia approached the table and slipped a disc into the chip reader. She pressed a button and the holoimage of a man, with white blonde hair and pale blue eyes appeared, hovering over the table. "Commander Dameron was already briefed earlier on this matter, we feel it's time to bring his squad in and take action. This is Agent Lothor. Up until recently, he had infiltrated the First Order and had been gathering intel on the base they are building in the Unknown Regions. We lost all contact with him about three days ago. The First Order attacked his last known location. Major Ematt has activated his tracker and we've located it on a habitable planet close to his last known location."

Ematt continued, "It is vital that Agent Lothor and the information is retrieved before the First Order finds him. This is a highly classified mission, Commander Dameron, so it's essential that you and your team keep this information from leaving this room. Do you understand?" 

"Of course, Major," Poe answered, with a curt nod. 

"Good. You leave first thing in the morning," Ematt replied. 

"Poe, the first sign of trouble, you get out of there," Leia informed him. "We cannot afford heavy losses."

"Yes ma'am."

"What did I tell you about calling me that?"

Poe just gave her one of his trademark smiles. Leia somehow resisted the urge to roll her eyes. For the most part, Poe reminded her of Luke—he had a good heart and always tried to do what was right—but there were other times, the handsome young pilot reminded her of Han. 

Instead of arguing with the leader of Black Squadron, Leia dismissed them. They needed time to prepare; they had an important mission tomorrow, probably the most important mission for the Resistance to date.

* * *

Kaleb was tried. All he really wanted to do was grab a quick dinner in the mess hall and then head to his bunk. However, upon entering the mess, the tension in the air was palpable. He jumped into the food line, grabbed a tray, and leaned into Joph's shoulder. "What's going on?"

Joph glanced at him as he scooped some food onto his tray. "Rumor has it that Commander Dameron's squad is going out on a classified mission tomorrow morning; they spent a lot of time in the situation room today with Major Ematt. Yolo saw them take their dinner in there about an hour ago; they haven't come out yet. My guess, mission prep."

"No one has any theories what the mission might be?" Kaleb questioned just as realization dawned him. _The missing spy._

"Well," Joph said, his cheeks getting slightly red, "they're too busy talking about Poe assigning Evelyn to his squadron."

_Kriff, Poe, really?_ Kaleb thought, rolling his eyes. He knew that Poe assigning Evelyn to his squadron was because he believed in her skills, he trusted her, hell he had been one of the ones to teach Evelyn how to fly but the rest of the Resistance, they didn't know those things. To them, it looked like an attempt to get closer to Evelyn. _Maybe, he wants that, but I know that's not the reason he put Evie in his squadron._ "Joph, trust me, Poe didn't assign my sister to Black Squadron to win her back or anything. He taught her to fly; he knows how good she is."

Shrugging his shoulders, Joph grabbed his tray of food and went off to find his friends. Kaleb sighed, heavily, letting his eyes sweep the mess hall. Knowing that his sister was about to go on a classified, highly dangerous mission, made him not so hungry anymore. He needed to find Poe.

Moving through the base quickly and quietly, Kaleb found Black Squadron exiting the situation room, empty trays in their mechanic, Oddy's hands. Kaleb set his jaw and grabbed Poe, roughly, by the arm. "We need to talk."

Poe started to smile but then seeing the serious look in his friend's eyes, stopped himself. "Okay," he said, letting Kaleb drag him off to a quiet part of the base. "Does this have something to do with my assigning Evelyn to Black Squadron?"

"No," Kaleb replied, releasing Poe's arm. "But we'll get to that in a moment. I know my aunt gave you the mission to find Lothor."

"Yeah, we leave in the morning," Poe replied, brow creasing with mild concern. "This _is_ about Evie, isn't it?"

"Besides my aunt and uncle, she's the only family I have left, Poe."

"Kaleb, I won't let anything happen to her."

Pain flashed through Kaleb's blue eyes. His mother was dead, his father vanished... and Ben... it hurt the most thinking about Ben. So, Kaleb shook away the horrendous memories, and looked his friend straight in the eye. "Promise me, Poe, promise me that you'll make sure she comes back. I can't lose her, too." 

Setting his jaw, Poe nodded, firmly. "I promise, Kaleb. I'll make sure to bring her home." He didn't need to voice it, both of them knew it; Poe would die before letting anything happen to Evelyn. He would die to protect her if need be. "Something tells me though, she's going to be the one to be making sure _I_ get home," he said, with a sly smile to break the grief filled tension. 

Kaleb chuckled, sadly. "Yeah, that's probably true."

Poe reached out and gripped Kaleb's shoulder. "She's a hell of a pilot; I should know, I taught her to fly."

"I know, and because of that, it's one of the reasons I'm terrified. She can be just as reckless as you at times."

"Unlike me, she knows how to reign it in, not to mention she's a Jedi. She has the Force on her side."

"You know she's shut herself off from the Force, right? That she has completely shunned that part of her identity..."

"I had my suspicions but I didn't want to push her."

Sighing, Kaleb nodded. He understood; Poe and Evelyn were actually on good speaking terms, in fact rumor had it that they were _more_ than just on good speaking terms. Kaleb knew Poe wouldn't jeopardize his relationship with Evelyn asking such a heavy question, regardless of what kind of relationship they had at the current time. "Ever since my father left, she's been avoiding that part of her. She keeps her lightsaber locked in a compartment in her x-wing but I can't tell you the last time I saw her use it."

Poe had noticed that Evelyn didn't carry her lightsaber, something she had been so excited to complete just before the fall of the Temple. "Maybe she just thinks it the easiest way to handle everything that's happened, Kaleb."

Kaleb shot a glare at him. "Easiest? Nothing about our situation is easy, Poe. Kylo Ren is _our_ problem to deal with and he's only going to be defeated if Evelyn stops being afraid and becomes the Jedi we both know she can be."

"Come on, Kaleb, you're asking her to face someone, possibly killing him, that she cared about at one point in her life."

"The person she cared about is gone, Poe; only Kylo Ren remains." 

"Have you talked to her about this?"

"You haven't been around here long enough to know two things, so I'm going to tell you them; one, don't piss my aunt off and two, don't talk to my sister about the Force."

He knew enough that you didn't make Leia angry, Poe had known Leia his whole life, but talking to Evelyn about the Force... she had always been so open to him about it. He supposed that given everything that had happened in the last five years, talking about that part of her was difficult. "You just gotta give her time, Kaleb. She'll come around."

Turning away from him, Kaleb sighed, heavily. He'd told himself that very same thing for the last five years, so far it had not come true yet. It wasn't fair that he was unleashing all this pent up frustration on his friend. "I'm sorry, Poe. I shouldn't be taking my frustrations out on you."

Poe reached out and clamped his hand down on Kaleb's shoulder. He gave it a gentle, reassuring squeeze to remind him that they were in this together, and that they were going to see this through to the end. No matter what that ending might be.

* * *

"General, you're going to want to read this."

Armitage Hux turned precisely on his heel. He strode along the command deck of the _Finalizer_ towards the nameless officer that had grabbed his attention. "Yes," he said, "what is it?"

The officer handed him a data card. Hux knew the young boy had been in charge of finding out more information on the attack in the Uvoss System. The Supreme Leader had been furious Hux's men had let the pirates get away with the yacht. "It wasn't the Irving Boys that stole that yacht. Rumor has it that it was the Resistance."

_Of course,_ Hux thought. He had read up on the logs his pilots had submitted and he'd been suspicious. The pilots that had attacked the Senator's yacht had obviously been combat missioned trained. Pirates wouldn't have attempted to charge a _Regurgant-class_ Star Destroyer. He frowned at the names on the data pad. He knew little about Poe Dameron, but he knew enough that the man was reckless, but had the skills to back it up. "Now that the Resistance has the yacht, they're going to know about Agent Lothor. Make sure every last one of those transmissions is tracked down. Kill any of the recipients."

"And what if the Resistance sends out their own team to retrieve the information?" the officer questioned, swallowing slightly. 

"Do I have to honestly spell that out for you?" Hux snapped, resisting the urge to roll his eyes when the officer stood there, dumbfounded. "Kill them too; leave no survivors."


	10. Chapter 10

**_Unknown Regions_ **

Black Squadron pulled out of hyperspace at the last known coordinates for Agent Lothor. They had left early that morning, not to rouse suspicion among their fellow Resistance fighters. Poe glanced out the cockpit of his Starfighter at the barren looking planet below them. "Hey, Beebee-ate, start scanning for any signs of life down there."

BB-8 warbled a response and Poe frowned. "Yeah, you're right," he said, "it doesn't look like it could support life, but this is where the Resistance tracked Lothor too, so start looking. With any luck we'll be out of here before the First Order even realizes we're around." 

" _Don't see what the First Order would want with this planet,"_ Snap's voice said over the comm line. 

" _Kyber,"_ Evelyn replied. " _This planet was supposedly rich in it a long time ago. Looks like it's been mined to dust."_

Poe took a deep breath and flipped a few switches on his control panel. "Snap, Pava, you patrol the orbit; Evelyn you're with me."

Evelyn didn't respond for a moment, and then asked, " _And where are we going, exactly?"_

He guided his fighter towards the atmosphere of the planet, ordering her to follow his lead. Poe noticed on his scopes that she did so. "We're going to go check out that planet, see if we can find Agent Lothor. I mean, isn't that why your aunt sent us here?"

She sighed, incredulously. " _Yes, it is why she sent us. I just... I don't know, Poe. None of this feels right."_

"Come on, Evie, let's have a little optimism here."

" _Fine._ Some _of this doesn't feel right."_

Poe chuckled as he started his landing sequence. The two T-70's descended down through the sulfuric clouds, heading towards hills of jagged rocks. Poe frowned; Evelyn was right, the planet had been mined to dust. He briefly wondered what this place had looked like before the vultures had gotten their hands on it. "BeeBee, can we breath the atmosphere here?"

BB-8 chirped an affirmative and then found a spot that the two Starfighters could land safely. Poe entered the coordinates and proceeded to land his fighter. Running through the post flight procedures, he quickly assessed the situation, just in case they had to make a run for it. Opening the hatch of the X-wing, Poe released his harness, and climbed out onto the wing. He left is flight helmet on the seat, and then edging his way to the end of the wing before jumping down. 

Evelyn was waiting for him. Pieces of her hair had come loose from her bun and were blowing in the cold breeze. She pointed over shoulder, alerting him to the settlement. Both pilots were concerned that neither of their droids had detected any life, even though the settlement looked well taken care of.

"Is it possible they left in a hurry?" Poe questioned.

"CeeBee says that there are still several ships parked in the hanger," Evelyn replied.

Poe looked towards the settlement. Now he was getting bad feelings. "Let's go," he said, gesturing in the direction of the settlement. Pulling his blaster from the holster strapped to his thigh, the commander led the way over the rocks towards their destination. `It wasn't easy going, they had to climb over rock formations, the droids had to use gripping extensions from their bodies to keep up with their masters. Poe almost wished he had just asked the two droids to stay behind with the ships, but he knew that BB-8 would not have been happy about that. Besides, they might need them to help with locating Agent Lothor.

Evelyn still didn't like the impression this place gave off. It was too quiet. There was no sound of wildlife, no birds, nothing, and she supposed that was the case because of the extensive mining that took place that destroyed the planet, but still, she'd been on rocks like this before and never felt so on edge. Even though she was shut off from the Force she could still feel the tingles of the dark side. 

At the entrance was the first sign that something terrible had happened; bodies laid smoldering. Poe clutched his blaster, tightly. "No wonder no one answered our communications. Everyone is dead."

CB-2 rolled behind Evelyn's legs. BB-8 was a bit braver and rolled forward, his photoreceptor peering into the destruction of the outpost. He turned towards Poe for a moment, as if he was asking permission to proceed further. 

"Do you think if you access the main computer, BeeBee, you can see if Agent Lothor sent any transmissions?" Poe inquired. BB-8 beeped an affirmative. "Okay, let's do this...quickly."

"Quickly, I like the sound of that," Evelyn murmured as they stepped further into the destruction of the outpost. 

Panels flickered, smoke lingered in the air, mixing with pungent smell of burnt bodies. Poe grimaced as the fresh air grew thinner and thinner the further they got into the compound. He covered his nose with his hand, following BB-8 as they made their way through the carnage.

BB-8 slithered into a large open room, Poe, Evelyn and CB-2 behind him. A large communication console stood before them and at the base the body of their missing agent. Poe let out a heavy sigh before ordering his droid to hook up to the panel and see if anything had been transmitted. If Lothor had managed to get his reports out before the First Order killed him, well, the Resistance still had a chance of recovering them.

Evelyn stared at the wounds on the man's body. _Lightsaber. Kylo Ren._ She tried to keep the tears out of her eyes but it was impossible; memories from another night, another massacre surfaced and she could not push them away. To this day she still could not understand how someone she had trusted, had loved, had turned against them all so quickly and violently. 

Poe watched her as the emotions played out across her face. While BB-8 worked, he reached out and placed a hand over one of hers as it gripped the console. Truth was, he would never understand how Kylo had betrayed those he supposedly loved and cared for. Her tear-filled eyes rose to his and his heart broke. So many years of pain, and he'd contributed to a lot of that pain. "You couldn't have stopped him; he was corrupted, Evie, coerced by the First Order."

"Knowing that doesn't make it less painful," Evelyn whispered with a shake of her head. 

"No, I suppose not," Poe whispered back. 

BB-8 became panicked. He swiveled his head around, shrilly addressing Poe. 

Poe's brow furrowed in concern. "What do you mean a _super laser_?"

Evelyn felt her breath hitch. "Like the Death Star?"

The little droid's only response was that the Agent Lothor had transmitted data and plans about a base, a base that had the potential to move from system to system and the power to destroy the sun. Poe and Evelyn exchange worried glances. "Download everything you can, Beebee, we need to get this all back to General Organa," Poe ordered his droid. It felt like ages for BB-8 to complete his work and detach from the console, but in reality, it was probably only five minutes. Poe wanted to investigate more, but he got the feeling that their actions on this outpost were not going to go unnoticed by the First Order. It was time to go.

Poe, Evelyn, and the two droids went back the way they came, through the death, flickering lights, back to the murky skies of the planet. Halfway back to their ships, Poe’s comm went off and Snap’s voice shouted, “ _Commander, we have company!”_

“Damn it!” Poe cursed, just as several TIE-fighters swooped down through the clouds. “Evie! Run!”

“How did they know we were here?” Evelyn cried, as they scrambled over the rocky terrain towards their fighters.

“My guess, they’ve been monitoring this system, waiting for us to show up. Snap! We need cover, _now_!”

“ _We’re on our way, Poe!”_

On cue, two x-wings swooped low, providing cover fire so Poe and Evelyn could make it to their ships. Snap and Jess cleared out the first wave of TIEs with no problem. Poe knew, after what happened with the _Hervuion Grace,_ that these things were never simple. More enemy fighters would be coming. _First sign of trouble, you get out of there._ Leia had admonished him, instilled him that they could not afford any losses… in hindsight perhaps the first sign of trouble was the dead bodies. There was no time to dwell on that now. He needed to get his squad home.

Poe powered his x-wing up; immediately his panel was lighting up and screaming alerts. The TIEs had damaged his hyperdrive. Poe cursed and ordered BB-8 to get working on repairing it. Out of the corner of his eye, as he lifted his fighter into the air and sped towards space, he saw the TIEs closing in on them. “Get out of here!” he ordered his pilots. “As soon as you’ve made the calculations for lightspeed, make the jump!”

“ _What are you going to do, Commander?”_ Pava asked, a little uncertain.

“I’m going to try to get some of these TIEs off your tails,” Poe said, turning his fighter away from the rest of his squad.

“ _Liar. You’re hyperdrive is down.”_

“Fine. You caught me, Pava. Now, make the jump. I’ll see you back at base. I can handle myself.”

“ _You stay behind you’ll be killed,”_ Evelyn snapped.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got this! Now, get out of here!” Poe shouted.

“ _I’m not leaving you!”_

“Lieutenant, I’m giving you a direct order! Make the jump!”

BB-8 reported that Snap and Jess had made the jump back to D’Qar, but Evelyn was still sticking with him. Poe grumbled to himself as he maneuvered out of the way of the latest onslaught of TIE fighters. “How much longer until the hyperdrive is ready, buddy?” he asked the droid. Poe felt a little panicked when BB-8 replied it was going to take another minute. One more minute could mean life or death for them. Poe glared at his scopes as Evelyn refused to leave him. _When we get back to D’Qar she’s getting a piece of my mind…_

Evelyn gasped over the commlink. Poe snapped his head about, shouting her name. “ _I’m fine,”_ she responded, tensely, “ _one of my engines just flamed out. CeeBee’s on it.”_

Poe ground his teeth. “Evie. Jump. NOW!”

“ _Not until you tell me that you’re ready to make the jump yourself.”_

“Fine. But don’t think for one second that I’m forgetting this, Evelyn!”

Her response was to fire at a TIE that was closing on him rapidly, that he was unable to shake… Poe clenched his jaw, knowing that she had just possible saved his life. BB-8 screeched that the hyperdrive was ready. “Set the course, buddy! Evelyn, punch it! I’m right behind you!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments and kudos. I'm having fun writing this, so I hope you're having fun reading this!


	11. Chapter 11

_**D'Qar, Resistance Base** _

The X-wing had barely touched down when Poe vaulted out of the cockpit. Shoving his helmet into the hands of a nearby technician, Poe stormed towards the fighter parked next to his. He didn’t even wait for Evelyn to take her helmet off before he tore into her. “I gave you a direct order, Lieutenant!” he spat, furiously, causing all eyes on the flight pad to snap up and look at him. “And I expect you to follow those orders when I give them to you!”

If she was surprised that he was shouting at her, Evelyn’s face didn’t show it. Her blue eyes fixated a glare on him after she tore her helmet off. “Oh, I’m sorry, was there a _thank you_ hidden in there? Because I’m pretty sure if I hadn’t stayed behind, you’d be scattered across that system right now.”

Poe clenched his jaw. Force, the way she looked at him, the way the loose strands of hair stuck to her forehead from sweating underneath her helmet—he couldn’t deny that he was incredibly attracted to her in this moment. _And angry… you’re incredibly angry at her,_ he reminded himself. “I had it under control. The General told us to get out of there at the first sign of trouble, to avoid losses. You could have been killed, Evelyn!”

Evelyn’s glared intensified. He would have died if she hadn't stayed behind and it appeared he was okay with that. Why was he so infuriatingly self-sacrificial? “You could have been killed too! How would that look if our wing commander was killed his first month on the job? Don’t bother to answer that, I’ll answer it for you—it wouldn’t have looked good, Poe!”

“Oh, so we’re going to just pick and choose what orders to follow now, are we? That wasn’t what I meant when I asked if you could serve under me!”

“Well, you didn’t clarify that your orders were going to be ridiculously stupid!”

She glared at him; it was obvious neither of them was going to back down from this fight. “Would you have left me behind? Or Snap? Or Jess?”

He ground his teeth. Poe stepped towards her wanting to take her into his arms and silence any of her arguments with a kiss, but instead, he snapped, “No. I wouldn’t have left any of you behind. I’m your commander—it’s different.”

“Different? What do you mean different?”

“It’s my job to get you home safely.”

“And it’s our job to make sure _you_ get home. That’s what being a team is.”

Snap clearing his throat alerted them to the fact that they were having it out on the flight pad—in front of _everyone._ Poe and Evelyn took a step back from one another, which did little to alleviate the tension. Snap glanced at Jess before informing the rest of his squad that the General wanted to debrief with them. “Maybe it will be a good opportunity for all of us to cool down a bit,” the captain suggested, noticing Poe’s jaw twitch.

Poe shouldered his way past Evelyn, leading the group of pilots into central command. It didn’t take the Force to feel the tension between Poe and Evelyn when they entered the situation room. Leia gently quirked an eyebrow at her niece, her adverted her blue eyes. “Commander, report, please,” the General ordered.

“BeeBee-Ate was able to download fragments of a transmission that Agent Lothor sent,” Poe reported, dark brown eyes looking at the brass gathered before him. “We were ambushed by the First Order. The base, the civilians, Agent Lothor, are all dead ma’am—long before we arrived. Evidence suggests that it was Kylo Ren that led the troops that slaughtered the entire settlement.”

“And the transmissions, do you know where Lothor sent those?” Major Ematt asked.

“Not yet, it might take BeeBee a few days to sort through all the encryptions,” Poe answered, tensely.

Leia straightened her small form. “We’ve been able to trace one,” she said, tersely. “Threepio found it on the yacht you stole, Commander.”

Poe took a deep breath. “Agent Lothor sent a message to the Senator?”

“No, we think the Senator intercepted it,” Leia replied. “He sent the message to a man named Lor San Tekka.”

“Master Tekka?” Evelyn repeated. “Aunt Leia, are you sure?”

“I’m positive.”

“What… what did he send Master Tekka?”

At this point, a broad-shouldered man, with golden hair and sharp green eyes, stepped forward. Poe wasn’t sure who this newcomer was, or why he had access to this confidential debriefing, but he could immediately see Evelyn’s posture change… it went from slightly tense to completely stiff. Instantly, Poe didn’t like him; how he held himself so arrogantly, looking upon Poe and his squadmates as if they were inferior. Poe bet this guy couldn’t even start an x-wing up, let alone pilot one skillfully. So, who the hell was this bastard to the Resistance, to Evelyn, and what had he done to her to make her so tense?

The man smiled, haughtily at the pilots, his eyes flickering with lust when they fell upon Evelyn. “General Organa, if I may?” he asked, looking at Leia expectantly. The General nodded her head, giving him permission to continue. “I believe that Agent Lothor sent a fragment of a map to Lor San Tekka.”

Poe crossed his arms over his chest. “And you are…”

“Oh, sorry, how rude of me,” the man said, extending his hand out to Poe. “I’m Agent Jas Dane, former New Republic Intelligence.”

“Commander Poe Dameron,” the pilot said, cautiously uncrossing his arms and shaking the spy’s hand.

“Ah, you’re the famous Commander Dameron,” Dane said, still with that condescending grin on his face, “the one that got us the prized yacht, a little singed, but you got it.”

It took a lot of will power to not punch the spy in the face. Obtaining the _Grace_ had been very dangerous, he could have lost his life, his friends could have lost their lives. It wasn't something that someone should be mocking him for; he had risked _everything_ to get that ship for Leia. Poe set his jaw. _I’d like to see you try to pilot that yacht, with all those TIEs and Star Destroyers closing in on you._ “Yeah, and you were about to tell us something that was found on that yacht _I_ got back to the Resistance. Which, you’re welcome by the way, sounds like if I didn’t get it back here at least a little beat up, we wouldn’t have vital information.”

Dane’s smug smile didn’t leave his face, but Poe could see the contempt in his green eyes. The pilot had struck a nerve; it was obvious that Dane didn’t like to be challenged like this. “It was a map, or more precisely a fragment of a map. I think that Lothor split the map up into fragments so the First Order wouldn’t be able to follow it.”

Poe glanced sideways at Snap, before turning back towards Dane. “Where does the map lead?”

“If I knew that you’d think I’d be here?” Dane snapped at him, his final nerve struck by the cocky pilot.

“You need Black Squadron to find the rest of that map for you.”

“I don’t _need_ you, General Organa suggested that I _use_ you.”

He didn’t like the way the spy looked down upon his team, treating them as if they were pawns in a game he was playing. Poe straightened his shoulders. “If General Organa orders us to go, then we’ll go,” the commander responded, making it _very_ clear that he wasn’t going to take orders from the spy.

A brief, silent stand-off was engaged between Poe and Dane. Evelyn was the one that broke it, as her fingers lightly brushed against Poe’s and she whispered his name. Poe snapped back to reality, could see Leia looking at him, cautiously, and then his fingers closed around Evelyn’s. He took a step back, inhaling a deep breath as he did so.

Dane chuckled, his eyes settling on Evelyn. “Should have known,” he murmured. “Didn’t take you long to move on, eh, gorgeous?”

Poe’s eyes flashed with fury; he took a tentative step towards the spy, free hand clenched into a tight fist… Evelyn giving the hand she was holding a gentle squeeze stopped him from doing something stupid—like punching Dane square between the eyes. He felt a protective nature taking over him. _This_ had been the man that she’d talked about the day before, _this_ had been the man that made her feel unloved, unworthy… and Poe wanted to strangle him.

Leia shot him a stern look. “Commander Dameron,” she warned, before continuing. “Let’s get back on track here. While Agent Dane stays here and works on locating Lor San Tekka, I want Black Squadron to head to Nar Shadda—we think that Agent Lothor sent another piece of the map to a contact we have stationed there. So, yes, Commander Dameron, I’m _ordering_ you to find that piece of the map.”

“Yes ma’am,” Poe said, tersely. “When do you want us to leave?”

“As soon as you can,” Leia replied. “I know that you just returned from a rather hectic mission…”

“It’s fine, ma’am, we’re ready, we can handle it.”

“You’ll have to take a freighter, dress in civilian clothes. We cannot draw too much attention on a world like Nar Shadda.”

Poe curtly nodded his head. “We can be ready to leave in an hour, General.”

Leia shifted her gaze between the four pilots and then dismissed them from the situation room; they had work to do. But even as Black Squadron began to move, Leia could see Jas' eyes zone in on her niece, like he was ready to corner her once she stepped out of the room.

It became obvious that Leia was not the only one aware of the spy's intentions when Poe placed himself close to Evelyn, his hand protectively cradling the small of her back as he led her out of the room. 

Black Squadron had taken several steps before Jess whistled. "Of all the scummy men in the galaxy, of course Jas Dane would show up. He makes my skin crawl the way he looks at women."

Snap glanced behind them to see if Dane had followed. Thankfully he had not. "I'm surprised your aunt assigned this to us, Evelyn. You know, with your history with him and all."

"It's too important to let all that history get in the way," Evelyn mused. 

"But still... your ex-boyfriend showing up..." Jess said, her eyes searching the other woman's face. "It doesn't bother you?"

"Hey guys," Poe said, seeing that the conversation was making Evelyn uneasy. "Go change, we'll meet back on the flight pad in forty-five minutes."

"Sure thing, Commander," Snap said, grabbing Jess by the arm. "Come on, Pava."

Poe could tell that Jess was unsure about leaving Evelyn without making sure her friend was okay, but he quietly nodded at her. _I got this._ When the other two pilots were gone, Poe let his hand drop from the small of her back and grip her uninjured hand. He gave it a squeeze. "You okay?"

Evelyn took a deep breath and shook her head. "I just... I wasn't expecting him to show up. I mean... I don't love him, Poe, but he hurt me... and there... there hasn't been a lot of time to process." Her eyes rose to his, filled with tears, and her lower lip trembled. "I thought I was over it... but I guess...I guess I'm not."

He immediately pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tightly. Poe felt her take a shuddering breath, but then she eased. Gently, he rubbed her back, letting her take the lead when to separate. He'd hold her for as long as needed...

....even if that meant standing there until it was time to leave on their next mission. 

She pulled away after a couple of minutes, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand. Evelyn smiled, softly. "Thanks."

Poe wiped the few tears away that remained on her cheeks. He grinned. "I'm still mad at you for disobeying my orders, just so you know."

Evelyn tossed him a mock glare as she turned to go get ready for the next mission.


	12. Chapter 12

"Heard you're quite the daredevil, Dameron."

Poe sighed, annoyed. _I don't have time for this._ He caught BB-8's photoreceptor looking between him and Jas Dane. Poe made sure to give the little droid a pat on his dome head before turning to face the spy. "If you're going to be at the top in my line of work, you have to be willing to take a few risks every now and then."

Jas smiled, anyone that had not witnessed their first exchange in the situation room might have thought it was a friendly smile, but Poe could see the contempt behind it. "I suppose you think you're the best there is, huh?"

"That's what people tell me," Poe said with a shrug, picking up his duffle. "I never paid much attention to it; getting the job done is what's more important."

"Sure, sure," Jas said with a wave of his hand, dismissing the conversation. "And Evelyn, where does she fit into all this?"

BB-8 visibly bristled, for a droid that is. Poe glanced at him in warning, even as he pushed his anger down. He'd known the conversation was going to come around to Evelyn. There was no way that Jas had come over here because he was interested in Poe's piloting career. "What about her? She's a lieutenant in my squadron, one of the best pilots that the Resistance's has." 

Jas grinned, slyly. "Just a lieutenant in your squadron? Do you let all your pilots get that physically intimate with you during debriefings? I don't recall seeing Captain Wexley or Lieutenant Pava holding your hand. So, what's the deal with you and Evelyn? Are you doing a little more than hand holding?"

Poe placed his leg in front of BB-8 to stop the droid from charging forward. He'd forgotten how loyal his little friend was to Evelyn, maybe even more so than he was at times. "We're childhood friends, maybe we are a bit more intimate than most commanders and lieutenants, however, the rules are a little bit looser here." _Does it bother you?_ the pilot wanted to ask, but he could clearly see it in the spy's green eyes that it _did_ bother him. "Besides, you're not with her anymore, so what do you care if we are?"

"I'm not sure what _she_ told you about our break-up, but I do care about her."

"We have _very_ different ideas of what caring for someone looks like."

"You think she's interested in someone like you? A hotshot, trigger happy pilot?"

"More than a self-centered, full of himself spy?"

BB-8 threw an insult at the spy, whose brow furrowed in confusion. Poe smiled and reached down to scratch the droid's belly. "Yeah, I agree, BeeBee."

Jas glared at the two of them. He'd never bothered to learn binary, because, quite frankly, he found droids useless; but the fact that BB-8 and Poe were communicating about _him_ right in front of his face, irritated him. "What did it say about me?"

Poe shook his head, an innocent look falling upon his face. "He said nothing about you. He was talking about the freighter. She's a little old, rusty, but she will fly, and we need to start getting her ready for the mission." _You're hating the fact that you don't speak binary and that BeeBee can just insult you..._ "Just to remind you, this is the mission you wanted Leia to send us on, so... if we're done here..."

"We're done," Jas snarled, "for now, Commander."

"Okay," Poe said, turning and heading up the ramp, "we'll see you around, Agent Dane."

Behind him he could hear the spy storm off and BB-8 followed him up the ramp, commenting that Jas thought he was better than droids. "Agent Dane thinks he's better than everyone, buddy," Poe said, setting his duffel down. "You were right earlier; there's nothing remotely good about him and I don't know what Evelyn saw in him."

BB-8 moaned sadly, perhaps Evelyn had just missed Poe. 

Poe winced at the honesty in the little droid's remark. "Maybe," he whispered and then sighed. "She did say she found him charming at first."

"Charming? Are you talking about yourself again?" Evelyn asked, entering the cabin with a gentle grin. 

"Lots of people would say I'm my favorite subject," Poe said with a chuckle, deciding _not_ to let her know about his recent conversation with Jas.

"That or flying."

"Excellent point."

Placing her bag down, she looked away for a moment before stepping forward. Softly, she placed a kiss on his cheek. "Thanks," Evelyn whispered. "I don't know what you said to Jas to piss him off, but he never looks flustered."

Poe chuckled, tucking a hair that had escaped from her braid behind her ear. "He's a little sore that he can't speak binary, therefore, he doesn't know what BeeBee is saying about him."

Evelyn looked down at BB-8. "What did he say?"

"That you can do better than that kriffing idiot."

"BeeBee said that?"

BB-8 warbled, proudly, which caused Evelyn to laugh, lightly. She pat the little droid on his head and she went to move past them. Poe grabbed her by the waist, spinning her towards him, he let his eyes fall on her lips and suddenly caught up in the moment, he moved in to kiss her...

It was the heavy footsteps on the ramp that _forced_ them apart. Snap appeared in the cabin and seeing the embarrassed looks on his companions' faces, he knew. Grinning, he shifted his gaze between Poe and Evelyn. "Hey... am I interrupting something?"

Poe shook his head, anxiously. "No... no... we were...we were just...ah..."

Evelyn's cheeks turned a bright shade of red. "Going over mission plans..."

"Yeah... going over mission plans..." Poe repeated.

"Sure you were," Snap said, still grinning. He laughed when Poe glared at him, just as Evelyn excused herself to the cockpit, making some excuse that she wanted to familiarize herself with the controls. "Dameron... I don't know why you just don't kiss her already."

"Maybe because everyone is _always_ watching us," Poe snapped at him. "I mean, everyone seems more interested in what's going on between Evelyn and myself than the actual Resistance."

Snap shrugged. He was no stranger to rumors; after all many had already started speculating about his relationship with Karé. "Hey, when you live on a base gossip spreads like wildfire, what can I say? You know that, Poe, you were in the Navy."

Poe sighed. It was true; every new relationship was known by everyone stationed on a ship or base by the couple's first kiss. Now, if he'd kissed Evelyn just before Snap came on board, it wouldn't have been their very first kiss.... _it would have_ _been the first one in five years... and maker, do I miss kissing her..._ "Can we just focus on our mission, please?"

The older man nodded his head. Snap knew he'd probably pushed a little too far today but a person would have to be blind if they didn't notice the yearning looks Poe tossed at Evelyn all day long. Or, the jealousy raging in his eyes during the debriefing with Jas Dane. _Or that his anger at Evelyn for disobeying orders wasn't because she disobeyed his orders..._ "Jess should be here any minute, as soon as she gets here, we can be on our way."

"Great. Sooner we get there, the sooner we get back."

"Are you in a bit of a hurry, Poe?"

"To get this mission done and over with? Yes."

"Nervous, Commander?"

"We're going to Nar Shadda... you tell me if I'm nervous or not?"

Snap was actually startled by Poe's anxious nature. The commander always seemed so nonchalant about charging into dangerous missions. It became clear to Snap what was making Poe anxious when Evelyn stepped back into the cabin. Poe was worried about Evelyn's safety. It made sense; they were going to one of the seediest parts of the galaxy. Bounty hunters, pirates, criminals off all sorts would be there... anyone of them would happily hand the daughter of Luke Skywalker over to the First Order for the right price.

Poe let out a slow breath as his eyes settled on Evelyn. The future of the Resistance, the future of the galaxy could depend on her survival. He'd promised Kaleb that he was going to keep her safe, and that was just what he was going to do.

* * *

Karé found Iolo and Kaleb in central command. If she was honest, she wasn't surprised; Kaleb had been in a sour mood since the spy had shown up several hours ago. Several moods had changed since Jas Dane's arrival; she had noticed a shift immediately in the tension around the base. Thanks to base gossip, Karé had found out that Jas was Evelyn's ex-boyfriend, which explained the sudden protectiveness Kaleb demonstrated. _And from what I've been told, it was a messy break-up..._

Jas was standing close to the communications operator that was handling Black Squadron's departure. As she approached her fellow pilots, the spy looked at her and a flirty smile crossed his lips. He was extremely attractive and knew it just by the way he held himself. Karé felt her skin crawl. Doing her best to ignore his silent objectifying of her, she stepped between Kaleb and Iolo and whispered, "Have they left yet?"

Kaleb shook his head. "They're just waiting for clearance," he whispered, noticing the way Jas was looking at Karé. Every attractive woman who had walked through the command center in the last few hours, his sister included, the spy had made eyes at. "I wish Poe had decked him."

"Dane? According to Snap, he almost did," Karé replied. "Evelyn stopped him."

"She should of done it then," Kaleb muttered. 

Iolo glanced in the direction of the spy. "Besides his good looks, what did she see in that guy?"

Kaleb shrugged. He hadn't liked Jas from the moment he'd been introduced to him, but he kept his mouth shut when Evelyn started dating him. After everything that happened, Kaleb wished he'd told her how he felt about the guy--that he saw Jas flirt and touch other women even when he was supposedly dating Evelyn. 

" _Central command, this is Black Leader,"_ Poe's voice filled the room. " _We're ready to roll when you are."_

“You have permission to take off, Commander,” the operator said, “Good luck, Black Leader.”

 _“Thanks,”_ Poe drawled. _“We’re gonna need it.”_

Kaleb stood, arms crossed over his chest, watching as the light freighter Black Squadron was taking to Nar Shadda lifted off. He was terribly conflicted about his sister and best friend traveling to that planet to retrieve information, but on the other hand, at least Evelyn would be away from Jas. While Kaleb was able to move towards forgiveness with Poe, there was no way in hell that he was going to forgive Jas. _At least Poe cares about her...._

Karé pat him on the shoulder and informed him that they were going to the mess to grab lunch. Kaleb took a deep breath, using the Force to calm his already frayed nerves. Asking Kaydel to let him know the moment Black Squadron was back, Kaleb joined his fellow squadron leaders and left central command. He made sure that Jas heard his request to Kaydel, this way the spy was very much aware that Kaleb was _not_ going to let him anywhere near Evelyn. He was not about to let her get hurt by that man once again.


	13. Chapter 13

An hour after the ship had left D'Qar and entered into hyperspace, Poe found Evelyn asleep in the cabin. BB-8 was resting against the side of the bunk and he moved slightly when Poe approached, beeping a friendly greeting. The pilot put a finger to his lips, instructing the droid to stay quiet. Poe picked up a worn out, old blanket, and gently tucked it around her, making sure to press a soft kiss to her temple before he stood back up. She sighed, contently, but didn't wake up.

Behind him he heard Jessika chuckle. Poe turned to see her sitting at the table, nursing a fresh cup of tea. "You have it so bad, Dameron," the female pilot said with a broad grin. "Snap is right, you really should just kiss her."

Poe rolled his eyes. "If I did that, what would the base have to gossip about?" He went and sat down with her, glancing in the direction that Evelyn was sleeping. _After this mission is over, maybe she'll be ready for me to kiss her again..._

"Don't worry," Jess said, interrupting his thoughts, "the base will find _something_ to gossip about."

"I'm sure they will," Poe retorted. "All it takes is the next unsuspecting couple to come along."

"Well, until you actually do something about your feelings, Poe--the base is going to keep gossiping about you," the female pilot said, grabbing her tea and going to join Snap in the cockpit.

Closing his eyes for a moment, Poe sat there, listening to the sound of the hyperdrive. Jess wasn’t wrong… Snap wasn't wrong... he did have feelings for Evelyn, and he did want to kiss her. Sighing, Poe opened his eyes and turned towards the bunks. They still had a long journey a head of them, and he probably should get some rest. He was just about to climb on the bunk above Evelyn, when she murmured in her sleep. Pausing, he watched the peaceful expression on her face turn to one of terror as she began to thrash in the bunk, crying out in fear…

…he reacted, immediately; BB-8 began to frantically beep and warble. Poe dropped down next to her and gently cupped her face between his hands. “Evelyn, wake up,” he whispered, “you’re having a nightmare, sweetheart.”

Evelyn’s eyes opened wide and her hands flew up into a defensive position, causing Poe to grab her wrists. When she realized where she was and who she was with, her eyes filled with tears and she silently sobbed. Poe shifted his weight and sat on the edge of her bunk, pulling her into his arms. He rocked her gently, hoping that the movement would comfort her and when he heard her whimper that she didn’t feel safe anywhere, anymore, his heart broke. “Oh Evie, as long as you’re with me, you’re safe. I’ll keep you safe, I promise.”

Her fingers dug into his biceps and she clung to him. She did feel safe with him, she had _always_ felt safe with him, even when they had been children playing in the jungle on Yavin IV. “Poe,” Evelyn sighed, her face buried in his shirt, “stay with me. Please.”

Poe didn’t verbally respond, instead he laid both of them back on the bunk, pulling her flush against his side and keeping her securely tucked between his arms. He pressed his lips to her forehead. “Go back to sleep. I’ll be right here.”

“I just want the nightmares to stop,” she whispered, burying her face in the crook of his neck.

“I know,” he whispered back, continuing to place soft kisses on her forehead.

“I see them, every night they hunt me—kill everyone I have left—and I’m left all alone.”

“You’re not alone, Evie. I’m here.”

Calmness suddenly washed over her with his gentle assurance that he was there for her. Evelyn snuggled closer to him, feeling his fingers gliding through her hair. She opened her eyes and looked up at him. Poe smiled, one filled with warmth and kindness, and she was hit with how _different_ he reacted to her nightmares than Jas. Her ex-boyfriend had thought she was overreacting to her dreams, and instead of holding her, he would suggest taking her mind off the dream by sleeping with her. After wards, he would fall back to sleep, but she would lie there feeling used. She had never felt better after her nightmares with Jas… but with Poe… he just made he feel… safe…loved...

Keeping his eyes locked onto hers, Poe raised his hand, using the back of it to wipe her tears away. “Go back to sleep,” he said. “This mission is going to be difficult enough fully rested, let alone exhausted. I promise… I’ll be right here with you.”

Evelyn felt herself falling back to sleep, lulled there by the warmth and safety of his arms around her. She felt her eyelids getting heavy and as she drifted off the last thing she remembered was Poe, watching over her.

Poe softly ran his fingers through her hair, watching as she went back to sleep, a peaceful, content look falling across her features. Gently he pressed his lips to her forehead, vowing then and there that he was going to do whatever it took to make sure that no one ever hurt her ever again.

* * *

“Sleep well, Commander?” Snap drawled when Poe opened his eyes and peered around the lounge. The older man had a big, goofy grin on his face and it took Poe a moment to realize why—Evelyn was still asleep in his arms. “I’m guessing you slept pretty good.”

“How much longer until we arrive at Nar Shadda?” Poe asked, shifting carefully so he didn’t wake Evelyn up as he sat up in the bunk. Gently he moved her off his arm, and laid her against the pillow, her hair falling into her face. Poe resisted the urge to brush it back; Snap would just tease him even more.

As it was, Snap was chuckling at him. _Yep, he’s completely smitten with her._ “Nice deflection,” the captain pointed out, pouring himself some more caf. “We should be arriving in a couple of hours. Before we land, our contact that has the information is supposed to get in touch with us to set up the location to meet.”

Poe ran a hand through his dark, unruly hair. Carefully, he climbed over Evelyn and got off the bunk. Doing his best to ignore Snap’s little grin, he poured himself some caf, rubbing a hand over his face. Now that they were getting closer to their destination, he felt a sense of dread pooling in his stomach. Nar Shadda was known for its shady business. Criminals, gangs, bounty hunters lurked around every corner. He didn’t worry so much for himself—after all, he probably was a blip on the First Order’s radar—however, Evelyn… she’d be the most recognizable one out of all of them. _She can handle herself,_ Poe reminded himself.

Snap leaned forward, seeing the conflict in the commander’s brown eyes. “Poe,” he said, getting the younger man’s attention. “Are you worried about Evelyn showing up on Nar Shadda?”

“Am I _that_ obvious?”

“Yeah. You wear your emotions on your sleeve.”

“She’d be a nice bounty. I’m sure the First Order is looking for her.”

“This might surprise you, but she’s been on missions like this before. The girl can handle herself. Her uncle taught her how to use a blaster.”

He shook his head. It did not surprise him that Evelyn was perfectly capable of handling herself—Poe had seen her train with a lightsaber—he just, he didn’t want her to end up in the hands of the First Order. So little was known about them, but if the rumors were to be believed, well… the First Order wouldn’t be kind to Evelyn. Poe just wanted to protect her…

…Snap pat him on the shoulder before heading back into the cockpit with Jess, leaving Poe to his brooding.

Poe let his eyes rest on Evelyn’s face, recalling the look of terror in her eyes when he first woke her from the nightmare. _Every night they hunt me._ He knew she’d been speaking of the Knights of Ren, who had wiped out the entire Jedi in one evening—she had nearly died herself. _And just three months later you walked away,_ he reminded himself with a wince.

Evelyn stirred, slowly waking up. She rolled onto her back and her eyes fluttered open. Immediately she brought a hand up to shield her eyes and uncertainly she called out,” Poe?”

“Yes,” he responded, moving towards the bunk. He grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I’m here. I didn’t leave you.”

“Thank you,” she whispered, adverting her eyes, suddenly embarrassed by how vulnerable she appeared before him.

Understanding that she didn’t want to talk about the night before, Poe glanced at her injured hand, the one that she had burnt working on her fighter that felt like years ago now. “We should probably change that bandage,” he pointed out, letting go of her other hand and going to retrieve the medkit. Poe sat next to her on the bunk, placing her injured hand in his lap and the medkit on the other side of him. Gently, Poe pulled the bandage back. "Looks like it's healing well. I wish I could get you to promise me you won't do this again."

Evelyn laughed, which sent a smile to his face. "You sound like, Jess. She's always more concerned that I'm going to kill myself fixing up my fighter rather than getting killed in a dogfight."

Poe applied some ointment to the healing burn before he wrapped a new bandage around it. "Well, that's because we all know you're a better pilot than mechanic." When he was finished, he pulled the palm of her hand towards his lips and placed a soft kiss on it. 

She raised her eyes and met his. There was so much warmth and gentleness reflecting in his deep brown irises. She could get lost in those eyes for hours on end. _Jas was never this gentle and caring,_ she realized. _I'm more to Poe than a good time._

He smiled at her affectionately, letting his fingers run through her hair as a far away look settled onto her face. "Hey, what are you thinking about? I lost you there for a moment."

"I...guess... I was just thinking about something."

"Hmmm, clearly. I asked what were you thinking _about._ "

"Honestly?"

"Yes, honestly."

"You," Evelyn whispered, eyes dropping and voice dripping with uncertainty.

"Me?" Poe repeated, curious and confused.

Taking a deep breath, Evelyn cautiously looked at him. "Jas never would have held me like that last night; he'd tell me I was being ridiculous, they were dreams, and then, more often than not, we'd just end up having sex and I'd feel like... I was just there for him to satisfy his libido."

Clenching his jaw, Poe pushed the pure fury at the spy to the back of his mind. He'd deal with Jas Dane later. "I'm sorry," he said, giving her palm another sweet, soft kiss. "They're not just dreams, Evie; you went through a horrible, traumatic experience. He should have been more sensitive, more attentive to your needs, not just his own."

Evelyn tossed him a coy grin. "Well, I know now that he's a narcissistic bastard."

Poe chuckled. He let go of her hand and stood up, going to put away the medkit. Turning about, slowly, he fixated his eyes on her; that coy little smile, how her hair was all tousled from sleeping. Stars, he really wanted to kiss her, and he wasn't sure if he'd be able to wait until after this mission was over...

"Commander?" Snap interrupted, silently chuckling as both Poe and Evelyn quickly adverted the other's gaze. "We just got a message from Dane's contact. He wants Evelyn to meet him at a cantina about an hour after we arrive."

"Absolutely not," Poe snapped, with a shake of his head. There was no way he was letting Evelyn walk into a cantina on Nar Shadda, by herself, even if the future of the galaxy depended on it. "I'll go."

"Yeah, I don't think our contact was willing to negotiate that. Jess and I tried. He was adamant that it was Evelyn that went."

"Adamant? He wants us to send the most well-known face of us all to meet him? Did he say he wanted us to lead the First Order right to him?"

"Poe," Evelyn said, getting off the bunk. "Calm down. It's not like I'd be going into that cantina alone."

"Calm down?" Poe shot back, his voice raising. "You want me to calm down when I'm about to send you into a bar on one of the most dangerous planets in the galaxy?"

Snap sighed. "Now we know why the contact asked for you, Evelyn. His feistiness could make him a little trigger happy. I don't want him to accidentally shoot our contact."

Poe grounded his teeth. "I wouldn't accidentally shoot our contact. I just...you realize _none_ of us would be able to step foot back on D'Qar if _anything_ happens to Evelyn."

Evelyn closed her eyes for a second. She was pretty sure that Kaleb had something to do with Poe's overprotectiveness; she'd seen him pull the Black Squadron leader aside before they had left on their first mission. "My brother threatened you, didn't he? If I get hurt on this mission..."

"There might have been a thinly layered threat before we left D'Qar," Poe admitted with a shrug. 

"He worries too much," Evelyn said with a roll of her eyes. "I'll be _fine._ "

_Fine,_ Poe thought, _if she wants to go into that cantina... I'm just gonna have to go with her._


	14. Chapter 14

_**Nar Shadda** _

Evelyn didn't need to use the Force to sense Poe's uneasiness as she stepped into the cantina. He had hated the idea of her going into the bar alone, without any back up, which was why he was seated somewhere in the crowd of patrons, keeping an eye on her.

The smell of stale alcohol and thick, heavy smoke permeated the air of the small cantina. If all went according to plan, she could slip in and out of the bar without any of the drunk or high—or both—patrons even noticing her. Even dressed in worn out brown leather pants, a dark brown shirt, and black vest, Evelyn felt incredibly out of place amongst the greasy, dirty, scruffy looking beings bellying up to the bar to get their fix of booze or drugs. Glancing at her scuffed boots, she estimated that the silver belt around her waist probably cost more than these types of people spent on drinks in a year.

As out of place as she might have been, Evelyn wasn’t entirely defenseless. On her hip was a blaster that her uncle had given to her shortly after she joined the Resistance, a knife was hidden in her boot—something that the Pathfinders had taught her—she might be small, but she was a force to be reckoned with. From behind the bar, she could see that the keeper was looking her up and down, an obvious scowl on his face. 

“You shouldn’t be here, little girl,” he snapped at her. “These sorts are too rough for you.”

“I’ll take a shot of Corellian brandy,” she said, tapping her finger on the bar. She quirked a brow when he didn’t move. “You’re going to turn away a paying patron?”

On the bar she pushed some credits towards him; instantly his eyes lit up. There were not a lot of beings around these parts that paid with New Republic credits; many just bartered with items they had smuggled for their alcohol and drugs. He took the credits and poured her the shot, a small grin on his face as he slid the glass towards her. Obviously, he still wasn’t convinced that she could hold her own in his place or that she could even hold her liquor. Grabbing the shot glass, she tossed her head back and swallowed it in one gulp.

Slamming the glass back onto the bar, she ran her tongue over her lips. The barkeeper looked back at her; his black eyes wide with wonder. Evelyn felt a small smile grace her features—if there was one way to win a bar keep over, it was showing them that you were capable of handling the drink. “I’m here to meet someone. Maybe you can point me in his direction?”

“Depends. Are you First Order? New Republic?”

“Neither.”

Before he could reply a man slid next to her at the bar, she felt his fingers brush against her waist, and something was slipped into her vest pocket. Looking up at him through the hazy smoke, his weathered face cracked a grin, and then he was gone. Evelyn knew not to follow. Pursing her lips together, she turned back towards the barkeeper, who was wiping some glasses clean with a tattered cloth. “So,” he said, “this person you’re looking for…”

She was lingering here too long, she knew it, but if she left now, suspicions would be raised. Evelyn could almost _feel_ Poe shifting uneasily from across the bar where he was keeping a watchful eye on her. “Business contact," she finally answered the barkeeper. "He owes me money, and if I don’t get it soon, I’m going to be owing a lot more to the Guavians. No one really wants that. Things could get—messy.”

A horrid stench filled her nostrils as a large man pawed at her. Now she knew she had lingered too long; her looks had attracted the wrong sort and with the amount of alcohol flowing there was a good chance that things were going to turn violent. She ducked underneath the arm of the man and tried to back out of the bar. She slammed into another body, their hands sliding down her sides and a slurred voice in her ear offering to by her drink, one hand pushed her braid aside, his lips moving closer and closer to the exposed skin of her neck.

Out of nowhere a fist flew through the air and hit the man square in the nose. Evelyn felt his hands fall away from her as he stumbled. Now, Poe stood between her and the two drunks. “She’s too good for you, pal. Keep your hands off of her.”

Chaos broke out into the bar then as the two large men lunged for him. He easily side-stepped out of their way, reaching for an empty chair and swinging it directly at them. The chair shattered as the two men collapsed onto the floor in a heap of sweat, teeth, and blood. Tossing the chair aside, Evelyn watched as Poe dropped back into a defensive position. Her fingers brushed the handle of her blaster, eager to pull it and help him as more patrons came at him. 

In the middle of the fray, someone else pulled their blaster, firing it directly into the air. Almost immediately the fight stopped, the attackers ducked and ran for cover as Poe reached for her hand. “Let’s go,” he told her. “That isn’t going to fool them for long.”

Outside they were greeted by fresh air, a moonless sky, and the rest of their squadron. “Kriff, Commander,” Snap grumbled. “We had the information; you didn’t need to play the hero.”

Poe gave the other man an angry look. "That thug had his hands on her."

Evelyn clenched her jaw. "You didn't even give me time to react!"

Jess grabbed onto Snap's arm, glancing over her shoulder. “Ah, guys, let’s go, those thugs are starting to realize I _wasn’t_ a First Order patrol. We can continue this debate when we're safely on our way back to base.”

Poe pulled on Evelyn's hand and gestured with his chin. “Back to the ship. Let’s get out of this pit.” He led them through the crowds of unsavory sorts, First Order patrols, making sure to keep his head down. If they drew any suspicion to themselves it would all be over. With a tentative glance around the street they were wandering, Poe ducked into a dark alley way that would lead them away from the cantina. 

“Uh-oh,” Snap said, suddenly breaking the silence. “Looks like your little bar fight roused attention.”

“Nice going,” Jess snapped as a patrol made their way down the dimly lit alley. “You can never do anything, quietly, can you, Dameron?”

“This way,” Poe said, pulling Evelyn into a darker, smaller alley. Snap and Jess followed. 

They slipped through the tiny back alleys, dodging the patrols that were obviously looking for her and Poe. He had blown her cover, perhaps the entire operation, so he could play the hero—save he damsel in distress and look good. She was suddenly so furious with him that she snarled. “I could have handled those thugs back at the bar myself.”

Poe chuckled and in the low light she saw that he looked in her direction. She couldn’t make out his face, but she was sure he was grinning at her. “Oh, so we're not going to wait to get back to the ship to debate this,” he said, playfully, “and from where I was standing, sweetheart, it didn’t look like you were handling it by not moving an inch.”

Evelyn felt fury erupt inside of her as they continued to walk along towards the hanger. _Force he can be so difficult!_ “Don’t call me sweetheart!”

He laughed again, stopping to peer into the alley by the hanger, making sure there wasn’t a patrol waiting for them. “Okay, would you prefer princess?”

She couldn't believe he was making jokes given their current situation. The was a chance that they were about to be caught by the First Order and killed. “I’d prefer if you’d let go of my hand." 

“Okay, easy there, princess,” he teased, letting go of her hand. His blaster held at his side, Poe took a step towards the hanger. “Let’s go.”

Snap and Jess went ahead of them; Poe and Evelyn followed closely behind. Everything seemed to be going well, until a patrol rounded the corner, spotted them, and began firing at them.

Gasping, as Poe pulled her behind him protectively, Evelyn was suddenly running with him as he fired towards the patrol. Snap and Jess dropped some cover for them and then the four of them disappeared up the loading ramp of a Ghtroc 690, the captain hitting the release to close the ramp up. “Don’t suppose we have time to tell air control that we’re leaving; I’d punch it, Commander!”

Poe jumped into the pilot’s seat, starting up the starship. “Sounds like a plan to me,” he said, flipping a few switches. “Hold on, we’re going out of here full speed!”

“Full speed!” Evelyn cried as he lifted the freighter off the ground. Stumbling, she managed to find something to hold onto. “You’re insane, Poe! You’re going to get us killed!”

“Come on, princess, have a little faith! We'll be fine!” 

“Stop calling me that!”

“Okay, I guess we can go back to sweetheart, _princess_.”

“There's a squad of TIEs coming right at us,” Jess reported, ignoring their bickering.

“Calculate the jump to lightspeed," Poe responded. "I'll hold them off."

Evelyn shouldn't have been surprised, it was Poe flying after all, but to her horror they were flying straight at the First Order squadrons. Gripping the bulkhead as the commander maneuvered the freighter into a series of loops, rolls, and corkscrews, Evelyn bit back whatever snide remark she had; Snap and Jess didn’t seem horrified by his flying—and she would be the first to admit it was incredible the way he was piloting them through the enemy fighters. However, they were taking heavy fire and sooner or later their shields were not going to hold.

Just when she thought they were not going to get out of this alive, Jess announced she had the calculations for lightspeed, and Poe pulled the freighter into a steep climb, heading out of the atmosphere. She fell backwards, losing her grip and cursed him as her knees hit the hard, durasteal floor. She heard him laugh, just before the 690 shot into hyperspace. Pulling herself to her knees, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It would do no one any good if she got angry in this situation— _as furious as you are with this situation, with_ him.

Poe turned in his seat and grinned down at her. "See, we're fine."

Standing up, slowly, Evelyn shot a glare at him. "Blasting our way out of here wouldn't have been necessary if you'd just let me handle the situation in the cantina."

He got up off the pilot's seat. Poe moved towards her, eyes dark with a hint of anger and lust. "We're _still_ debating that?"

"Yes! Poe, you cannot just go flying off the handle like that!"

"Ok, fine, let's play your little game. Did you have a plan to handle those thugs?"

"I was reaching for my blaster..."

"Please, they would have broken your arm before you even got it out of the holster..."

"You don't think I was trained in self-defense?"

"For someone who was, you just stood there!"

Evelyn balled her fists up, noticing how close they were to each other now and realizing that despite the fact she was furious with him, she was incredibly attracted to him. They had never fought like this before and she supposed that was because they'd never really been in life-threatening situations together before. For a moment they stood toe to toe, the air around them thick with tension...

Jess let out a slow breath. "Just kiss already," she murmured. 

Snap chuckled, "Think they have more than kissing on the brain, Pava."

Poe and Evelyn simultaneously shot a glare at him. Snap and Jess took that as their sign to leave their friends alone. Once they were gone, Poe ran his tongue over his lips and turned back towards her. "That thug's hands were all over you, touching you... he had no right to be pawing at you like that."

BB-8 whistled, lowly, moving closer to Evelyn and brushing against her leg. Evelyn glanced down at the little droid for a second, before looking back at Poe. "You don't have to protect me, Poe."

"I know I don't... I just..."

"Can't help it."

"Yeah," Poe whispered, he instantly felt calmer, all his anger leaving his body. "You're important to me, Evie. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Important," Evelyn repeated, resisting the urge to reach out and touch him. "What...what do you mean by that?"

Poe smiled at her. "Come on, Evie. You know what I mean."

Evelyn swallowed. "Do I?"

"You're my best friend."

"Just your best friend?"

"Oh no, you're more than that; you've been more than that for years now."

"And what exactly... does _more_ mean, Poe?"

Poe moved closer to her, if that was entirely possibly, given how close the pair was standing in the confined cockpit of the light freighter. His dark eyes locked onto her intensely and he gently took her arms in his hands. “I love you, Evelyn.”

Evelyn was sure her heart was beating so loudly that he could hear it. Her face felt flush and her palms felt sweaty, and she didn't know _what_ to say or do. It appeared that Poe was just as immobile, as he stood there, gazing at her, hopefully.

BB-8 whirred impatiently next to him and suddenly nudged him. Poe gasped, pulling Evelyn closer to him.

“Commander, I think he wants you to kiss me,” Evelyn said, with a soft smile.

“It appears that he does, Lieutenant,” Poe murmured, with a lazy grin. 

His mouth lowered to hers, capturing her lips in a soft, sweet kiss. She melted against him and she realized, she fit perfectly there—like she was meant to be there. Her mouth parted against his, inviting him to deepen their kiss, assuring him that she was alright with this, assuring him that it was okay to go a bit further, to gently slide his tongue into her mouth and explore. His strong arms wrapped around her waist, and Poe tightened his grip on her as the kiss became more heated, more passionate.

Being this close to her, he could smell the soft, clean scent of her hair as it brushed against his face. Pulling back, he tugged on her lower lip for a second, and then, desperately trying to catch his breath, he rested his forehead against hers. 

Her hands rested on his chest, and Evelyn used her fingers to trace circles over his beige, button down shirt. She’d been kissed before, but never like that, like the person she was kissing was the air she was desperate to breathe. It was the exact opposite of how she felt when Jas kissed her. Her heart was pounding, her skin felt flush and warm; instead of feeling nothing, Poe filled every sense she had. “Wow,” she whispered.

Poe chuckled low in his throat, pressing his lips to hers again. “I hope that’s a good _wow._ ”

Evelyn’s response was to bury her hands in his dark curls and pull him down for another kiss. Poe felt fire spread across his skin, enjoying how close she was to him, how wonderful it felt to have her that close to him and have her kissing him; he wanted to get absolutely lost in her, lost in this moment but then an alarm went off on the panels, reminding them that _one_ of them still had to fly the ship. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally a kiss :)


	15. Chapter 15

_**Finalizer, somewhere in Imperial Space**_

General Hux stood, facing the viewport, hands clasped behind his back. Outwardly, he may not be showing signs of annoyance, but inwardly, he was furious. The Resistance had slipped through his fingers--again--on Nar Shadda. He was going to have to implore less civilized tactics if he was going to bring the Supreme Leader the members of the enemies most elite squadron. 

"Sir, they've brought the prisoner on board," someone informed him.

"Very well," Hux said, turning on his heel. "Tell them to put him in a cell. I'll be along presently." 

Leaving the bridge in silence, Hux headed towards a lift that would take him to detention level. Standing in the lift, Hux took a deep breath. If this worked, he would be handing the Resistance their greatest blow and perhaps handing the First Order the greatest victory. He couldn't stop the small smile that spread over his usually stoic face. Gliding out of the lift, Hux made his way towards the detention cells. 

Captain Phasma and two of her troopers met him outside the cell. "He came willingly, sir, no resistance."

Hux nodded. "Of course he did; we promise him a piece of the past, of his previous glory with the Empire."

"Sir, if he is a supporter of the Empire, why did we have to put him in a cell?" Phasma questioned.

"I do not entirely trust him, Captain," Hux replied honestly. _His loyalty to the First Order is also in question, but he hates the Resistance more than us._ "Don't worry, Phasma, if he agrees to do the job for us, then he will not be on board for very long."

Phasma keyed in the code for the cell, stepping aside to allow Hux to enter first. One man, dressed in a black suit, glanced up at him. Hux thought about what he was going to say for a moment; the General wasn't a fan of former Imperials--they reminded him too much of his father and many held much too tightly to the Empire's ideals. Regardless, this man lived without principles and he would be the man to get the job done for the First Order. 

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small device, sliding his finger over to activate the holoimage. The small cell filled with a bluish glow as two images rotated before the occupant. "Before we begin," Hux said, calmly, "do you know who this?"

The former Imperial rubbed his chin, thoughtfully. "Yes, I know who that is. Did you bring me onboard, General, to test my knowledge of who is who in the galaxy? Or do you actually need my services?"

"I need these Resistance pilots to be stopped," Hux said, shutting the holoimage down. "Traditional methods so far have yielded no results and I cannot broadcast that the First Order is looking for them in fear of blowing our cover. The Senate is not fully under our control yet. If the Resistance is allowed to grow larger than they will pose a problem for us."

"In other words," the man said, "you cannot put a bounty out on two of the most well known pilots in the galaxy; that would cause quite the headache for you, wouldn't it General. What's in it for me if I bring them in?"

"You will be adequately compensated for your services."

"And if they give me a hard time, do I have permission to kill them?"

Hux frowned. It would be best if they were brought in alive, that way they could use them to gain vital information. However, after recent events on Nar Shadda, Hux realized that Commander Dameron could be a liability. "The only one that the Supreme Leader wishes to be left alive is Miss Skywalker--the other members of Black Squadron are expendable."

For a second Hux thought that the former Imperial soldier was going to turn down the job, but then he grinned, maliciously. "Of course that is his wish. I suppose he wants to turn her into his next pet, like he did with Kylo Ren."

"I do not know what his exact wishes are in regards to Miss Skywalker," Hux replied. "Do we have a deal, Agent Terex?"

"Yes, General Hux," Terex answered. "We have a deal."

* * *

_**Resistance Base, D'Qar** _

Black Squadron returned in the middle of the night, but Kaydel kept her promise to Kaleb and contacted him. He threw on whatever clothes he could find and went to meet them in central command. He arrived at the same time as four travel weary pilots and one excited droid. It was obvious that BB-8 had been able to charge while Poe, Evelyn, Snap, and Jess had gotten very little sleep on the journey back to D'Qar. 

Kaleb managed a small smile as he followed Black Squadron into the situation room. The door shut behind him and he saw his aunt give him a questionable look, until Kaleb tightly pulled his little sister into his arms and hugged her. He didn't see the glare that Evelyn threw at Poe, and if he had seen it, he wouldn't have cared because she was back on base and safe for the time being. 

"I'm fine," Evelyn grumbled, pushing away from her brother. "Poe was the one that nearly got us all killed."

"We got away without a scratch," Poe argued, "don't be so dramatic."

"You started a bar fight which got First Order patrols looking for us."

"They didn't catch us, sweetheart."

Jess groaned, loudly. Poe and Evelyn had been bickering non-stop since they had left Nar Shadda; it was starting to get on her nerves. "Can you two please, just stop?" she interjected.

Snap threw a look at Kaleb and the young Jedi could see the exhaustion in his eyes. "This would all be avoided if Poe would just man up and kiss your sister, you know resolve some of that tension between them."

Kaleb laughed silently at the mock glares Poe and Evelyn gave Snap, the eye roll from Leia, and he shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry, Wexley, I'm not going to encourage a guy to kiss my sister... that's just...wrong." _And I think they've already relieved some of that tension--they're just putting on a show for you right now._

Leia cleared her throat to get their attention. "I'm sure everyone is tired; did you get what you were sent to Nar Shadda for? Or did Commander Dameron's bar brawl cut the mission short?"

"We got the piece of the map," Evelyn replied, pulling a data card from her pocket and handed it to Leia. "Poe managed to restrain himself until we at least had that."

"In my defense, General, she's leaving out the part where two drunks had their hands all over her," Poe said, his eyes gazing intensely at Evelyn.

"Commander," Leia addressed him in a cautious tone. "Evelyn is fully capable of handling herself. You should have let her handle it."

Evelyn looked at him triumphantly. "See. I told you."

Poe rolled his eyes. He thought about fighting with her, but then Leia flashed him a look that shut him up. "Do we have any other leads on the other transmissions?"

Leia shook her head. "Intel has been working on those encryptions since you left. We're close, and even if we had figured some things out--I wouldn't be sending Black Squadron. You need to rest, Commander. Every single one of you looks beat."

Kaleb had to agree with his aunt. Black Squadron had just completed two very dangerous, highly classified missions; there were other squadrons that could go out and retrieve information for Leia if need be, right now they needed their best one to get some sleep. He reached out and gently took Evelyn by her elbow. "Aunt Leia's right, you guys should all get some sleep. Besides, if we don't have any new information, no one is going anywhere for a while."

"As soon as we have something, I'll let you know," Leia assured them. "But for now, you're dismissed."

"Come on," Kaleb said, putting his arm around Evelyn, "I'll walk you back to your quarters."

Evelyn glanced over her shoulder at Poe, who gave her a little nod that was barely visible. She turned back towards her brother, leading her away from the situation room and towards the living quarters. She wondered how long Kaleb was going to stay with her once they got to her room. Would he want to talk? They hadn't talked about Jas showing up and she knew that he wasn't a huge fan. But she had made plans for Poe to stop by...

Kaleb chuckled, softly. "Don't worry," he said, pulling her tightly to him. "I won't stay long. I just want to make sure you're okay and then you can have the whole night alone with Poe."

"How... how did you know?"

"Hey, you might not be using the Force anymore but I still am. By the way, I'm sure Aunt Leia knows as well."

"Promise you won't say anything...to _anyone._ We want it to be a secret for a little while."

"I promise I won't say a word. Quite frankly I'm still creeped out that my best friend and my sister are... well you know..."

Evelyn playfully rolled her eyes. Kaleb had been besides himself when Poe asked her out the first time five years ago. She vividly remember her brother laughing and believing that the pair was pulling a prank on him, it wasn't until he realized that they were serious, that Kaleb had freaked out a little. "He's still the only one of my boyfriends that you've actually liked."

Kaleb would have to agree with her. "Poe is the only decent guy you've dated."

She chuckled. "You sound like Uncle Han."

He shrugged. "It's the truth."

They had reached her quarters. Evelyn punched in the key code and turned to give her older brother a hug. "You don't have to worry so much about me, Kaleb. I can take care of myself."

It wasn't that he doubted her, but Kaleb couldn't bare the thought of losing his sister. He'd already lost his mother, his father was just gone... Ben... their family had been torn to shreds thanks to the First Order and he lived in constant fear of who they were going to take from him next. "I know, Evie. I just worry about you when you're gone. I don't want to lose you."

Evelyn pulled away, smiling at him sadly. She told him to head back to bed and that she would see him in the morning. Kaleb sighed and nodded, realizing that until the First Order was dealt with, he was going to constantly live in fear of the next loss.

* * *

Poe liked that the base was so quiet this late at night. There was no one out and about in the corridors to question why he was keying in the code for _Evelyn's_ quarters and not spending the night at his own. With a final glance around the abandon hall, Poe slipped inside Evelyn's room, the door hissing shut behind him.

He wasn't surprised to find her passed out on her bunk, after all, he had promised Evelyn he'd be right behind her. However, his time with Leia ran later than he was anticipating. He quietly moved across her quarters. It wasn't a large space, enough room for a standard sized bunk, a small table with a couple of chairs, and room for CB-2's charging station. Discarding his boots and then his jacket, Poe sat on the edge of the bunk, looking down on her.

His fingers glided through her hair while he thought about the dream he'd had of her back on the _Echo of Hope._ Whenever he thought about that dream he was still perplexed why it had felt so real. They never talked about it; he didn't want to sound foolish to her if it really had been a dream and not a connection through the Force. Poe sighed, exhausted and he settled down on the bunk with her, pulling a blanket on top of them.

She burrowed closer to him, her face nuzzling the arm closest to her. One of her arms reached out and lazily draped over his abdomen as she mumbled something in her sleep. When he scooted closer to her, she responded in kind. Slowly, her eyes fluttered open and she smiled when she saw him lying next to her. "Hi."

Poe kissed her forehead. "Sorry, your aunt kept me later than I thought she would."

Evelyn pulled herself closer to him, resting her cheek against his chest. "It's okay. Sometimes... it's nice just to cuddle like this."

"Mmmm," he hummed, stroking her back. "I promise you, the next time we're in a bunk together...we won't just be cuddling."

"Oh, really?" she quipped, a coy smile spreading across her face while she wrapped one of her legs around one of his. "So, Snap was right... you did have _more_ than just kissing me on your brain."

"You obviously don't know how sexy you look when yelling at me like that," Poe whispered, kissing her jawline. "So, yes, I did have a lot more than just wanting to kiss you on my brain."

"And if we hadn't been in the cockpit of that freighter... with BeeBee-Ate..."

"Believe me, I would have done more than just kiss you."

Evelyn sighed, softly, her eyes slipping shut. She pressed her body as close to him as she could get, feeling his arms wind around her and hold her tightly. "Can you just hold me for now?"

Poe kissed the top of her head. "Yes," he whispered, a sense of peace washing over him. It just felt natural to be this intimate with her; it was easy being with her. His father would always tell him, especially after Poe had gone through yet another break-up, that relationships were hard work, but loving the person you were with--that should be easy.

Her eyes opened and she smiled at him, affectionately. "I love you."

He returned her affectionate smile. "I know."

"So, how much money do you think Snap is going to lose betting on us?"

"Oh, who knows, I just hope it isn't his entire life savings..."

"Maybe we should tell them..."

Poe stroked her cheek with his thumb. "Aw, but it's been fun watching them speculate."

Evelyn threw him a little glare. "Poe. That's a little mean."

He chuckled. "They've been teasing me since I arrived. Don't you think I earned a little bit of retribution?"

She sighed. "Fine. Just... don't let it go on for too long. I'd hate to see Snap lose all his money."

Feeling his eyes getting heavier, Poe mumbled a promise to her that they'd tell the others in a few days. For now, he was content to fall asleep with her in his arms and forget the darkness that was creeping across the galaxy, threatening everything that they both loved and held dear--including each other.


	16. Chapter 16

_"Commander Dameron? Are you awake, sir?"_

Poe blinked open his eyes, sunlight rushing at him and immediately he slammed them shut. He fumbled about the bunk, trying to recall where he had tossed his jacket the previous night. Evelyn draped over his body was making it difficult. Finally, Poe managed to snag the jacket and find his com link in the pocket. "Yeah," he replied, groggily. "I'm awake. What's going on?"

Evelyn stirred as his com crackled, " _Agent Dane is requesting you join him for a briefing,"_ the officer replied, sounding anxious. " _It seems that another part of Agent Lothor's transmission has been located."_

_Great._ Poe thought as he told the officer he was on his way. Slipping out from underneath Evelyn, Poe stumbled towards the fresher. There was no way he was showing up at this briefing without showering; he had same clean clothes in the bag he'd brought to Nar Shadda. He peeled off his dirty clothes, started the shower up, and then stepped underneath the warm spray of water, feeling it gently massaging away the aches and pains in his muscles. As much as he would have loved to stay in the shower a bit longer, Poe knew that if he kept Dane waiting, it was only going to make the spy even more ornery. 

Washing his body and hair with whatever soap he could find in Evelyn's shower, Poe finished up quickly. Now dressed in a fresh pair of black pants, white shirt, and his jacket, Poe stepped back into Evelyn's room. She was still sleeping, still sprawled out on her stomach on the bed. An overwhelming feeling of affection washed over him as his eyes settled on her pretty face. 

CB-2 greeted him, alerting him that she had woken from her charging cycle. Poe turned his attention to the shy little droid, patting her dome softly before he instructed that CB-2 let Evelyn sleep. Fixing his jacket collar, Poe exited her room, peeking around corners to make sure that no one was around to see him. 

"Sorry, Commander," Connix said as he strode into central command. "I know General Organa didn't want you disturbed... but this couldn't wait."

"It's fine," Poe said with a wave of his hand. "Where's Dane?"

"Situation room with Major Ematt."

"Great. I wonder where Dane is sending me next to get shot at for him."

Connix smiled at him as he moved towards the situation room. Poe rapped on the door and immediately it slid open. Stepping inside, he waited for the door to shut before he spoke. "You wanted to see me?"

Dane had been leaning on the table when Poe entered. Pulling himself up to his full height, his green eyes narrowed in on the pilot. "We traced another transmission; it's on the abandoned Imperial Base on Scarif."

Poe crossed his arms over his chest. He vividly remembered his father talking about that planet; it had some significance to the Rebellion. Right now, he couldn't recall what that significance was, and he doubted that was going to help him retrieve that transmission. "An abandoned base? Shouldn't be that hard to retrieve it then."

"I would think you wouldn't be fooled so easily, Commander. Those abandoned Imperial bases are littered with booby traps." 

"Okay, well, since you obviously don't think I have the knowledge to handle booby traps, why don't you go to Scraif?"

"Because my assignment, Commander, is to trace the transmissions. It's _your_ job to retrieve them." 

Major Ematt cleared his throat. "The base on Scarif Poe is inaccessible. It is too heavily damaged for you and your team to safely enter, there are several communication towers and posts that were not as damaged that we think your squadron can safely approach. You should be able to retrieve the transmissions from one of those master switches. The planet was used as a test shot for the Death Star, not its full power, but enough to show the Alliance that they had the fire power to destroy us all and it hasn't been used for anything since."

Poe glanced at the older man, a memory of his mother flooding to the forefront of his mind-- _a lot of good people lost their lives to get us those plans, Poe. Remember, victory doesn't come without great sacrifice._ He wished he could remember the story she had been telling him. Setting his jaw, Poe nodded. "I understand, Major. When do you want Black Squadron to leave?"

Dane was the one who answered. "As soon as General Organa approves the operation."

"I guess I'll go brief my squadron," Poe said, looking towards Ematt to see if he was free to go. Ematt silently nodded, and Poe exited the situation room. 

Halfway to the hanger, Poe felt a hand grab his shoulder and he was suddenly slammed against the wall. Dane was looming in front of him, glaring. "You know, you might not have to like me, but you damn well better start respecting me, Dameron," the spy growled. "You waltz into that room twenty minutes after I called you, smelling like a woman--Major Ematt and I are not stupid, we know where you were."

Poe shoved his hand away. He knew this had nothing to do with the briefing that had just occurred, it had everything to do with the fact that Poe smelled like Evelyn since he'd used her soap in the shower. "You know what I think is _really_ happening here, you can't stand it that she wants to be with me and not you. This has nothing to do with rank or respect; it has everything to do with the fact that Evelyn is with me and _not_ you. Oh, and by the way-- the last time I checked, you _technically_ don't outrank me."

Dane's jaw twitched and rage pooled in his eyes. The look made Poe's blood run cold. This was a man who cared very little for the well being of others. "Oh, I'm not worried about her being with you; she'll be mine again, eventually," the spy said, tightly. "Evelyn will realize her mistake soon enough."

"Are you threatening her?" Poe countered. He clenched his fists, if this man so much as laid a finger on Evelyn...

"Do you feel threatened, Dameron?" Dane shot back, a wicked smile on his face. 

"You don't scare me, Dane. But I'm gonna warn ya, _don't_ touch her."

"Or you'll..."

Poe contemplated his answer. _Kick your ass, make sure you never set foot on D'Qar again,_ he thought, angrily, _break your neck._ Breathing through his nose, Poe made sure to take a step back before he did something he might later regret. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Snap and Kaleb, and stepped back even further. Clearly, Dane was looking for a fight. Not saying a word, just throwing a hard look at Dane as he joined his friends, Poe mumbled to Snap, "come on, we have another mission."

Snap glared directly at Dane before following behind Poe, Kaleb bringing up the rear. "Where we heading this time, Commander? And are you okay? You looked like you about to strangle him... not that I would blame you."

Kaleb saw the tension in Poe's shoulders as he refused to answer Snap. He felt the rage simmering off of his friend, and cautiously reached out to the Force, knowing that Poe hated it when his friends probed him like this. "Dane threatened Evie, didn't he?"

"What?" Snap gasped. He grabbed Poe's arm and stopped him. "Is that true, Poe?"

"Yeah... it was thinly veiled, but it was still a threat," Poe ground out.

"He's just egging you on, Poe, to see if he can start a fight," Kaleb said with a shake of his head. "I don't think he'd actually hurt her."

"And what if he isn't just egging me on? I don't trust him."

"What's he going to gain from hurting her?"

Poe clenched his fists, pressing them against the sides of his legs. "Once General Organa approves it, we're heading to Scarif--find Jess, find Evie, and let them know," he ordered Snap, signaling that he was done with the previous conversation.

Snap glanced tentatively at Kaleb and then pushed his way past Poe to go find the rest of their squadron. "Very well, Commander. I'll tell them to stand by and prepare for our next mission. Hope this one goes more smoothly than the last two." 

* * *

_**Scarif, Abandoned Imperial Base** _

General Organa gave the green light to the mission within an hour of Dane requesting it.

Due to the nature of the mission, and the possibility that they were going to have to disarm ammunition, the General had assigned Paige Tico to the crew. Poe knew little about her, but Evelyn was friends with her, and trusted her--that was good enough for him. Paige admitted to him before they left D'Qar that she wasn't much of a combat pilot, but Poe was worried about running into any First Order patrols. The four x-wings and one a-wing entered the orbit of Scariff two hours after entering hyperspace. "Welcome to the tropical paradise of Scarif," he said over the open channel to his squadron. "Form up around me and follow me down."

Black Squadron fell into formation. As they descended into the atmosphere the devastating destruction from the Death Star's blast came into view. Poe felt his chest tightening, thinking about the Empire firing on their own people. The base lay in crumpled ruins, decaying hulls of ships lined the otherwise pristine beaches. There had been a battle here, during the Galactic Civil War; Kes had often talked about the friends he'd lost, ground troops that had joined what could only be described as a suicide mission. 

Now, as the fighters flew along the ocean, salt spraying up behind them, it was as if they had traveled to a different place in time. Poe noticed that the comms were silent, something that he wasn't used to from his team--they were always bantering--even they felt the heaviness of this place. Or it was the gravity of their mission--there were dozens of defunct communications towers and master switches that they were going to have to check and they were not going to be easy to get too. 

_Looks like we'll be camping out for a few days,_ Poe thought as he directed his squadron to land on a flat, long stretch of beach. When Poe disembarked his fighter, BB-8 was complaining about the sand and the salt in the air; it wasn't the best environment for droids. "I'll make sure you get a good gear scrub when we return to base," he promised the little droid.

"Stars, I thought D'Qar was humid," Jess said, beginning to peel off the top half of her flight fatigues.

"We can set up camp here," Poe instructed, doing the same as Jess and removing the top half of his fatigues.

"Camp?" Snap countered. "We're camping here?"

"You saw how many towers we're going to have to check on the way in," Paige said. "It's going to take us days."

"We have plenty of rations for five days," Evelyn pointed out, removing the camping equipment from her fighter. 

"Great. Rations," Snap said with a roll of his eyes.

"Come on, Snap," Poe teased, grinning, "it will be fun!"

Snap glared at him as the pilots began to set up their camp. After an hour of putting tents together and venturing into the jungle a little bit to find a clean water source to fill canteens, they were ready to start working on the communications towers. 

Poe thought it would go faster if they split up into teams. He sent Paige with Jess, Snap, and their droids. Evelyn, BB-8 and CB-2 followed him in the opposite direction. After trekking through the dense jungle, being careful not to trip any mines that the Empire might have left behind, they arrived at the first tower. It was obvious that the elements and time had taken its toll on the massive metal structure. Working together, Poe and Evelyn removed the panel to access the inner works of the tower, only to find the wires so badly corroded that neither of them believed this tower was still capable of receiving a transmission.

Never the less, they hooked BB-8 up to the tower and began to work. Amazingly the little droid was able to download some information, but he reported that it wasn't from Agent Lothor--he had managed to retrieve some Imperial files that he believed they'd find quite interesting.

Evelyn glanced at Poe and took a deep breath. "You never know, maybe we'll find something in those files that will give us tips to defeating the First Order."

Poe smiled, softly. "Before her death, your mother mentioned that the Emperor was more devious than anyone in the Rebel Alliance believed. She was certain he'd find a way for his Empire to be rebuilt, even if he were to be killed."

"She was never convinced that the Empire was completely eradicated from the galaxy."

"Well, apparently she was onto something."

BB-8 whistled that he was done, detached himself from the tower, and instructed the pilots where they had to go next. He took off, rolling through the ferns, CB-2 behind him. Poe and Evelyn gathered up their equipment and followed after their droids. For the next two hours they followed the same procedure, find a tower, or communication station, open the panel, hook one of the droids up to it--and only retrieve ancient Imperial files. 

Poe was hot, frustrated, and tired when he pulled his commlink from his pocket. "Hey, Snap. Let's wrap up for today. Meet us back at camp."

Snap sounded just as hot, frustrated and tired when he answered. " _Sure thing, Poe. Hope you had more luck than us."_

_I wish we did,_ Poe mused, heavily. He led the way back through the jungle, along the path they game because they knew it was clean of mines. It was nearly dark by the time they made it back to the camp. Paige, Jess, and Snap had started a fire. Already the three were sitting around it, digging into rations packs, and draining their canteens. As soon as Poe and Evelyn joined them, it became apparent that the pair had no luck getting the transmission from Lothor.

Jess handed Poe a ration pack. "You think Dane sent us here to just get us out of his hair for a few days?"

Poe shrugged his shoulders. "He must have had _something_ in order for the General to approve the mission."

Paige took a bite of her dinner. "Those towers haven't been maintained in years. If I had to take a wager, I'd say it's been at least thirty."

"Sounds about right," Snap drawled. "After the battle that wiped out the base here, the Empire left this system."

"Why would Agent Lothor pick this place then if it's been abandoned for so long?" Evelyn questioned.

"Maybe he was hoping that the First Order wouldn't trace it here. Or if they did, they wouldn't bother, since it's so old."

"So far, he's right--there's been no sign of the First Order here at all."

"Let's hope it stays that way."

Poe finished his ration pack and tossed the empty tray into the fire. Watching it get devoured by the flames, he glanced up at Evelyn. The kyber pendant caught reflected the light from the flickering flames and he wanted to move across the site to wrap her into his arms--but he knew that he couldn't. First, they were on a mission and it was best to keep their feelings for one another out of those. Second, their squadron still had no idea they were officially back together.

Snap elbowed him, letting him know that he'd been staring at her. Paige and Jess laughed as color instantly rose to Evelyn's cheeks. Poe quickly adverted his eyes and mumbled that he was going to turn in for the night. Shifting, he headed back towards his tent, glancing once over his shoulder to meet Evelyn's gaze one last time before he slipped inside his tent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the next chapter is where this fic earns it's rating...


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I warned previously, this is the chapter where the story earns its rating ;)

Poe was woken from a deep sleep when heard the flap of his tent unzip. Gazing over his shoulder he watched as Evelyn slipped inside, closing the tent flap behind her. Rolling onto his side so he could face her, he pushed himself up onto his elbow. "Something wrong?" 

Evelyn shook her head, her cheeks flushed, but she was sure he didn't notice in the dim moonlight, and even if he did, he might have written it off as the heat. "No. I just couldn't sleep."

"Another bad dream?" he questioned, brow furrowing in concern for her.

"Actually, it's something else that's bothering me," she replied, her eyes roaming over him, and suddenly he understood.

Poe was certain his heart stopped beating for a moment and he bit down on his lower lip. "This is dangerous, you know," he whispered, smiling slightly. "If we want to be discrete, sneaking into my tent--with our fellow pilots _right_ outside--is probably not the way to go about it."

Evelyn twirled a piece of her hair around her finger, making sure the strap of her tank top slipped off her shoulder to tease him. "I can leave if you want," she whispered back, smiling coyly. 

"Oh no, don't you dare," he growled, throwing opening his sleeping bag and reaching for her. Pulling her towards him, he crashed his lips into her lips. As his mouth moved against hers, he reached for the hem of her tank top, letting his fingers slip underneath and touch the warm, soft skin hidden behind it. 

Breaking their kiss, Poe lifted the thin top higher and higher, until he had taken it off of her, exposing the perfect curves of her breasts. It wasn't the first time he'd seen her without her top on, but Force, she was even more sensual, and beautiful, then he recalled. Cupping one breast with his hand, he began to kiss and suck at the pulse point on her neck. 

"I knew you wouldn't turn me away," she gasped, her head tilting to one side to give him better access to the sweet spot he was working his magic on at the moment. Certainly, he was going to leave a mark, but something told her that was exactly what he wanted. She softly moaned as his lips moved along her neck, down through the valley of her breasts and then as his mouth claimed one. Desperately she clawed at his shirt, needing to get it off of him so she could feel his skin against hers. 

Realizing what she wanted, Poe sat back up, yanking his shirt off just before he laid back on top of her. The skin on skin contact caused both of them to hum in pleasure, memories of being this intimate once before, years ago, springing to the forefront. Poe slowly lowered his mouth to hers. He felt every sense, every nerve set on fire by her. There had been others after her, but even before this moment, he'd known that they didn't compare to how she made him feel. He kissed her mouth first, sweeping his tongue against hers, and then, after he'd ravished her lips once again, he proceeded to worship her body with his mouth.

Her hands grasped at his damp, raven curls, tugging and kneading as little gasps of pleasure escaped her lips. It had been so long since a man had made her feel this way; she wanted this, she wanted _him_ badly. She could feel his own arousal through the thin scrap of fabric that separated them, her toes curled as desire pooled hot, heavy at her core.

Somehow, through the haze, Evelyn found the waist band of his shorts and began to pull them over his hips. As she slipped them off, her hand brushed against his obvious need. Once the shorts were discarded somewhere in the small tent, she went back to that spot, the one she knew he was longing for her to touch.

Poe moaned, softly and he rested his head in the crook of her neck as she grasped him between her delicate fingers. He rocked his hips into each of her purposeful strokes, feeling the fire of desire ignited within him. If she kept doing that, if he _allowed_ her to keep doing that, this was going to be over much too soon. Kissing her neck, he reached down to where her hand held him and he peeled her fingers off. Eyes locked on hers, Poe tugged at her sleep shorts, sliding them down her slender legs and throwing them over his shoulder.

Sitting up, he held her wrists above her head and gazed down at her. There was very little light in the tent, the only source the pale moon above the beach. "You are the prettiest sight I think I've seen in a long time, Evie."

"You're not too bad to look at yourself," she said, seductively, her blue eyes admiring every hardline and muscles of his chest, the broadness of his shoulders; she admired how solid and strong he was. 

"Mmmm, so I've been told," Poe teased, leaning down to kiss her. Her lips parted against his, and he deepened the kiss, plunging his tongue into her mouth and caressing hers. She arched her body, wrapping a leg around his waist and drawing him closer to her. He hissed, feeling her arousal brush against his own and his whole body pulsated with the anticipation of making love to her once again. 

Evelyn sighed, contently, as he shifted, grasping both her wrists in one hand and using the other to trail down her body to touch the place that was aching for it. 

Poe's lips moved as well, kissing her across her collarbone and then traveling lower just like his hand. She was writhing beneath him, gasping, _begging…_ he felt his body responding to her... reminding him of his want and need of his own release… but, Gods, she was so beautiful… so wonderfully aroused and in need of him... and when she came apart in his arms... it nearly did him in. 

Burying his hands in her hair, he pulled her towards him, searing her mouth with a kiss. If this was the only night she ever gave him, he wanted to engrain everything about her in his memory. How she smelled and tasted… and he couldn't wait any longer for how she felt around him. He softly kissed her jawline. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

Her fingers lazily moved across his broad shoulders and chest, and she smiled. Grasping the back of his neck, she pulled him down towards her, pressing her lips to his in a tender kiss. “Yes. Poe, this is all I've been thinking about since you came back."

Gently he moved back over her and with one, deep breath to steady himself, Poe thrust inside of her, groaning as his aching need for her was finally met. She was perfect… he was certain he had never been with another woman who he fit so wonderfully.

She closed her eyes as she felt him fill her, her head falling backwards against the sleeping bag, an almost voiceless gasp of pleasure escaping her lips. It had been awhile since Evelyn had been with a man and her body ached, ever so slightly. But she didn't care about that; all she cared about was how wonderful it was to be so connected to Poe once again. 

"I've missed this," Poe growled before kissing her, lovingly. He began to move his hips in slow thrusts, savoring the sweet friction. "I've missed _you._ "

Her arms snaked their way underneath his arms and around his muscled shoulders, pressing their sweat soaked bodies together as closely as they could possibly go in the tight confines of the tent. Poe grunted as she met his slow thrusts, her fingernails lightly grazing his shoulder blades.

Evelyn was drowning in the sensations of feeling their bodies joined with no barriers between them. It had been years since they'd been together this way and she felt overwhelmed by a sudden rush of emotions. "Poe," she moaned, directly in his ear, "I love you... don't hold back... _please_... _._ "

Poe grunted and increased the speed of his thrusts, driving into her over and over again. He could feel the passion building, the inferno of desire growing as they clung to one another desperate to reach their completion. It wasn't going to take long, it had been too many years since they had touched one another like this and the way her body was molding into his… it was not going to take much to get him to climax. He had almost forgotten how incredibly wonderful it felt to be joined with her, to be connected with her so much more than physically… it was more than just sex for them... it was the most intimate expression of their love for one another, and he cursed himself for walking away from this all those years ago. 

HIs heart beat wildly against his chest the more their bodies moved in this erotic dance. He knew that he was close, slipping towards that edge with each frenzied meeting of their hips. Sweat trailed down the tip of his nose, colliding with the droplets of sweat that had collected on her body. Poe lowered his face into the crook of her neck, panting against her moist skin, hoping that it would drown out his cries of ecstasy. 

Her breath hitched, her pulse was thundering in her ears, and if the others had no idea that they were involved again, surely after tonight, they were going to know. The thin fabric of the tent walls was not going to conceal their gasping breaths and low moans. 

Neither of them cared; all that mattered now was how they were making the other feel--and that they never wanted to let go of the other ever again.

She sighed in bliss and curled her left leg around his hips and pulled him in deeper. No sooner had she done that did she feel her body starting to respond… her muscles tightened, her nerves tingled and then exploded as she shattered. Her body was shaking from head to toe with her orgasm when she felt him shudder and gasp.

He felt himself coming harder than he had ever had before, splintering and exploding inside of her as he clung to her. Poe felt his muscles giving out and he collapsed on top of her, the two them breathing heavily as they tried to catch their breath. All they could do for what felt like the longest time was lay there, clinging to one another.

"Again... say it again," Poe murmured, his breath still ragged.

"Say... say what again?" Evelyn hoarsely replied.

Poe lifted his head and gazed down at her, brown eyes heavily saturated with pleasure. "What you said before..."

Evelyn took a few staggering breaths and then, sighed, "I love you."

A brilliant smile spread across his face and he kissed her nose. Gently, he removed himself from her body and rolled over, making room for her next to him in the sleeping bag. She snuggled into the tight space, and he curled his body around her, one arm wrapping around her waist. Now that she was safely tucked against him, he reached for the top half of the sleeping bag, pulling it over them. Poe pressed a kiss to her damp temple as a blissful exhaustion began to settle over both of them. "Sleep tight, princess."


	18. Chapter 18

By morning the humidity had not broken on Scarif. Poe woke alone in the sleeping bag. He wasn't surprised that Evelyn had snuck back to her tent last night, after all, they really were trying to be discrete. He smiled to himself, still tasting her in his mouth, still smelling her on his skin, and he felt a rush of heat recalling how her body had felt wrapped up and around his.

Finding his discarded clothing, Poe dressed and slipped out of his tent. At the edge of the beach they had set up camp on he caught sight of Evelyn sitting in the sand, watching the waves crash against the shore. She'd redone her hair into a braided bun, leaving no evidence behind that he had totally mussed it up last night. Eventually they were not going to be able to hide it that they were back together, but for now... he was rather enjoying the secrecy of it all. 

"Hey princess," Poe greeted, sitting down in the sand with her. "Are you the only one up?"

"I am," Evelyn replied, smiling sweetly at him. "Guess our teammates aren't early risers."

Poe gently grasped her chin in his hand and stroked her cheek with his thumb. "I'm glad they're still sleeping; gives us a few more seconds to just be us." He pressed his lips to hers in a soft, tender kiss. "I'm really glad you invaded my tent last night."

Evelyn laughed, softly. She had no idea what was going to happen when she crept into his tent last night; she'd had an idea of what she _wanted_ to happen... but there had been no guarantee Poe would go along with the plan. "I know it wasn't the next time we were in a bunk... but a sleeping bag worked just fine I think."

"It was with you so _anywhere_ would have worked just fine," Poe whispered, his lips brushing against her pulse point. 

"Mmmmm," Evelyn hummed. "Why am I not surprised by that?"

Wrapping his arm around her waist, Poe pulled her towards him and crashed his lips against hers, kissing her hungrily. She melted into the embrace, her hand running over his chest and then gripping his tank top. It was amazing how quickly they forgot where they were, what they were really doing in this place, when they were together like this--until they heard BB-8 whistle shrilly behind them, reminding them that he was tired of keeping their kissing a secret.

Poe laughed, softly and when the droid screeched at him, he put his hands up in defeat, sliding away from Evelyn. "Okay, okay," he said, appeasing BB-8. "I promise, you won't have to keep it a secret much longer, and we'll make sure not to do this when you're around."

BB-8 didn't sound convinced as he rolled away back towards the camp. 

Evelyn watched him go, turning her eyes to rest on Poe's face. She reached out and played with his curls. "You know, it really isn't fair that we're asking BeeBee to keep secrets. It's probably against his programming."

"Probably," Poe agreed, with a smile. "He really is the best droid--and to think the Navy thought I was crazy for picking him."

"Why's that?" she questioned, fingers still lingering in his damp hair.

"Too skittish," he replied, honestly. "However, bb units have incredibly loyal subroutines--if treated the right way."

"I believe it; if a droid can love--that droid loves you."

"He can love. Trust me."

"How do you know that?" Evelyn countered, a soft smile gracing her features.

"Because, I see how he follows _you_ around," Poe replied, laughing. 

She tossed him a teasing grin. "Are you jealous of your droid, Poe?"

He leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. "I might be... just a little...after all, he gets to follow your gorgeous body around."

Evelyn laughed, playfully punching his shoulder. "You're so weird."

Poe grinned at her. "Sure... but it's all apart of the charm, sweetheart."

The sound of footsteps in the sand, and then a shadow cast over the beach, alerted them to the fact that they were no longer the only two awake. Paige and Jess sat down in the sand with them, offering cups of caf--or what was passed off as caf in their ration packs. 

"Hope we have better luck today," Jess murmured, sipping her caf and making a face. "Gods, this stuff sucks."

"Don't worry--the real stuff will be waiting for us back on base," Poe promised her. 

"Well, then we better find that transmission today," Jess retorted. 

"What's the matter, Pava? Don't like sleeping in a tent?" Paige teased.

"Come on, Tico, who does?" 

"I don't know; I don't see Poe or Evelyn complaining."

Jess threw them a cheeky smile. "Maybe that's because they didn't sleep last night."

Paige wouldn't have believed it, however she saw both Poe and Evelyn visibly react. Their eyes quickly darted away, and color rose to both their cheeks. Everyone on base was talking about them; it wasn't like their romantic feelings for one another were a secret. Finishing the rest of her caf, she glanced at the commander for a moment, and she smiled, silently to herself--there were going to be a lot of women back on the base disappointed and heartbroken...

Poe stood up, and cleared his throat. "We should probably get Snap up and get a move on. The longer we stay here on Scarif, the more of a chance that the First Order is going to track us and come after us. I don't know about you--but I'm a little tired of being shot at."

* * *

"Anything, BeeBee?" Poe asked, hopefully, wiping the sweat from his brow. When the droid responded negatively, the pilot sighed.

"We've been at this for almost two days now," Evelyn said next to him. 

"Dane must have gotten his information wrong," Poe countered, angrily. "Either that or this is punishment."

Evelyn cast her eyes downward, looking at the fern covered jungle floor beneath her. "I'm sorry, Poe."

Poe glanced at her while he put the panel back on the latest tower they had checked. "For what, exactly?"

She still refused to look at him; she wasn't sure why, but she suddenly felt guilty. "For the way Jas treats you; it's not fair. He's only doing it because of me."

He chuckled and reached for her chin, tucking it upwards and forcing her to look at him. "Evie. He wouldn't have liked me regardless of my relationship with you. So, you don't have anything to apologize for." 

" _Dameron,"_ his commlink crackled with Snap's deep voice, " _we_ found _it. Can we please get the hell off this planet now?"_

"Great," Poe responded, feeling an immediate sense of relief. "Head back to camp, pack up; Evie and I will meet you there. And Snap?"

" _Yeah, Poe?"_

"I owe you a drink, man."

" _I'm gonna hold you to that promise, Dameron."_

Evelyn laughed along with Poe as the commlink closed. Poe placed the device back in his utility belt and ordered that they head back to base camp.

BB-8 was the one that bleated a warning even before a man and two stormtroopers emerged from the jungle. "Just a minute, Commander," the man said. He wasn't too tall, broad shoulders, dressed in all black armor. His head was shaved all around, except for a narrow patch of gray on the top of his skull. "I'd like to speak with you and Miss Skywalker."

Poe wasn't sure where the First Order agent and his men had come from; it didn't matter. _Keep Evie safe._ Instinctively Poe stepped in front of Evelyn, pulling his blaster. "Listen, I don't know what you want, or where you came from... but I'm not in the mood to play games, pal."

The agents were not phased by Poe pulling his weapon; non of them even flinched. "Good, neither am I, Dameron," the lead agent said, smiling maliciously at the two pilots. He gestured towards Evelyn. "I'm here to escort Miss Skywalker to the Supreme Leader's ship; he wishes to meet her."

"I don't make it a habit to go with strangers," Evelyn snapped.

"Forgive me, Miss Skywalker, where are my manners--I'm Agent Terex."

"And forgive me, Agent Terex, but I'm not going to see the Supreme Leader. I have no desire to meet him."

Terex quirked an eyebrow, an amused twinkle in his eyes. "I think you misunderstood, Miss Skywalker, you do not have a choice in this matter. I am here to take you to the Supreme Leader."

Poe clenched his jaw and raised his blaster. Like hell these agents were going to take Evelyn away; they were going to have to get through him first. "Over my dead body," he growled, making brief eye contact with Evelyn. He nodded his head so subtly that no one would have noticed if they didn't know to look for it; but she did. The silent communication passed between them unbeknownst to Terex and his men.

"Believe me, Dameron, that can be arranged," Terex replied, annoyed. He waved his hand. "Dispose of him."

"Now, Evie!" Poe shouted, dropping down low so she could get her shot off.

The blast that shot forth from Evelyn's weapon took out the first solider; the second one was taken down by Poe. He threw his leg out in a scissor kick, taking Terex down to the ground. Rolling away from stunned the First Order agent, Poe leapt to his feet and grabbed her hand. The pair took off through the jungle, BB-8 and CB-2 rolling furiously behind them. 

Poe pulled his commlink, knowing that running at this pace through the jungle was highly dangerous--since they could set off a mine at any moment--he ordered Black Squadron to get into the sky. They had what they came for; it was time to go home.

With no time to dress in full flight gear, Poe tossed his helmet own and practically vaulted into his fighter. "Black Leader to all wings; report in."

" _Black two, standing by,"_ Snap reported. " _We better hurry, Dameron. Sensors indicate we're not alone."_

_"Black three, standing by,"_ Jess sounded off next. " _Stars, I hope this information is worth it. I'm tired of running for our lives every time we go out there."_

_"Black four, standing by,"_ Evelyn said after Jess, tightly. " _If it's not, I get first dibs on punching Dane in the face."_

"Paige, how are you holding up?" Poe questioned before she could report in.

" _Anxious, terrified, any other word you can think of to describe fear,"_ Paige reported.

Sighing, Poe lifted his x-wing into the air, watching as his squad did the same. "Okay, form up around me; Paige just follow Black Squadron's lead. We're gonna get us all out of this, okay?"

Paige muttered something that he didn't quite pick-up over the comms. Black Squadron had other problems than to be worrying about what she had mumbled--waiting for them in the space around Scarif were two Star Destroyers and their full arsenal of TIE fighters. " _Kriff,"_ Paige cursed, and this time the entire squad heard her.

Poe flipped a few switches on his panels. They needed to get out of this system and fast. "Evie, fall back with me. Snap, Pava, Tico--make the calculations for light speed. We'll hold them off."

" _Two of against all those TIEs?"_ Jess sputtered. " _Kriff, Poe, you are_ _crazy."_

"Listen, I've done this before," Poe responded, cutting his fighter into a tight swaf and firing. He hit his target dead on. "I'll be fine!"

" _One of these days, you_ _won't_ _be fine,_ " Snap drawled. " _Eventually even your good luck will run out."_

"There's a good chance you're right, Wexley, but it ain't happening today!"

Paige screaming over the comms alerted the others that she was in trouble. The TIE fighters had quickly figured out that she was the weakest pilot out of all of them and had surrounded her. She had taken fire and one of her engines had flamed out. " _My droid is working on it, but I can't shake them!"_

Poe swung his fighter about, ordering Evelyn to join him. Snap and Jess were close to making the jump to light speed. _If we can just get to Paige... we can blow those TIES on her tail and get the hell out of here,_ Poe thought as his finger brushed against the trigger. "Hold on, Tico, we're coming. Snap, Pava, how close are you to making the jump?"

Jess answered, sounding annoyed. " _Thirty seconds. But we're not leaving you, Poe. So, blast those TIES and let's get the kriff out of here!"_

_"_ We are _not_ having this argument _again,"_ Poe hissed. "You jump when the calculations are complete." 

Jess and Snap didn't listen to his order. If he could have, Poe would have thrown his hands up in defeat. _I don't know why I bother giving orders._ "Evie? Where are you?" he asked into the comms, knowing that he didn't have time to argue with the others--the TIES were relentlessly closing in on Paige, like a swarm of wasps he'd once encountered as a child on Yavin. 

Evelyn's fighter pulled up on his port side and together they split the enemy fighters in pursuit of Paige. It was not a move they often practiced in drills--hell, Black Squadron barely had time for drills--it was a move that showcased how in-tune they were when flying. Without even communicating, the two fighters broke apart, taking the various TIE fighters with them--and off of Paige's tail. 

Black Squadron sailed underneath the belly of one of the Star Destroyers, and then once they were clear of the massive ship, simultaneously disappeared into hyperspace.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter references the Poe Dameron comics, so there might be slight spoilers.

"We have a mole!" Poe shouted across the holotable. "How else did the First Order know we were on Scarif!"

"Don't be ridiculous. They're tracking those transmission as well!" Jas shouted back. 

Poe gripped the edge of the table, to prevent himself from throwing himself across the room and taking Jas down. Once Black Squadron had landed, Poe had stormed into the command center, furious. Not only had they nearly lost Paige in the dogfight, the First Order was clearly looking at taking Evelyn prisoner. He was failing at protecting his team and he'd be damned if he lost another pilot like he'd lost Muran--he'd be damned if the brass didn't listen to him again."That agent was sent there to take Evie," he growled, darkly. "I know nothing about this so called _Supreme Leader_ but if he's looking for Evie, it can't mean good things."

Leia placed a hand on his shoulder, instantly calming him. Poe wasn't sure if she was using the Force or not, but he felt peace wash over him. "If the First Order wants Evelyn then I suggest that Captain Kun take her place on Black Squadron for the time being," she said, giving his shoulder a slight squeeze the moment she saw the protest forming on his lips. "It's only temporary, Poe. I know we need Evelyn out there, but right now, our priority is her safety."

Swallowing, Poe nodded his head. "Yes, ma'am," he whispered. The move was meant to make him feel better, but the truth was, it didn't. He was still convinced that someone was leaking information to the First Order and if that person was on base, Evelyn was in danger even on D'Qar. "Can I make a request, ma'am?"

"Certainly, Commander," Leia replied, gently. "What is it?"

"My team needs a break," Poe said, straightening his frame. "We've been on three highly dangerous missions with little rest in between."

"General..." Dane started to argue, but was silenced when the older woman put her hand up.

Leia offered a soft smile to Poe. "Request granted, Commander. In the meantime, if we discover anything else, I'll send Kaleb and red squadron out."

Poe thanked her and dismissed himself from the situation room. Outside Jess, Snap, and Evie were standing anxiously, waiting for him. Raising his brown eyes to meet Evelyn's blue ones, he sighed, "The General has assigned Karé to Black Squadron until further notice."

Jess threw her hands up in the air. "What? What about the mole? Did she take that seriously?"

"Of course she took that seriously, Jess," Poe responded, tightly. 

"Then why the hell is she grounding Evelyn, one of our best pilots?" Jess argued.

Evelyn broke eye contact with him. "She wants to keep me here; harder for Snoke to find me."

Snap shook his head. "Not if we have a mole. Damn, the First Order could know where our base is."

"One problem at a time, Wexley," Poe countered, frustrated. 

"You're right, sorry, Poe," Snap sighed, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. 

Poe gently took Evelyn's hand, wrapping his fingers around hers and holding onto her tightly. "General Organa granted us a break; relax, take some time to sleep. I'm not sure when we'll be going out again on our next mission." 

Snap glanced, tentatively at Jess. They both knew how these things worked; if Black Squadron was needed, then they were going to get the call--no matter how much time off the General had granted them. He grabbed Jess by the arm, and muttered, "Come on, Pava, let's go grab something to eat."

Jess started to protest, but then seeing the unshed tears in Evelyn's eyes, understood why Snap was leading her away. "Yeah, yeah, food sounds good. Anything is better than those damn ration packs we ate for the last twenty four hours."

Evelyn tried to blink the tears away from her eyes, but a few managed to escape. 

Poe reached out and flicked them away and then he gently caressed her cheek. He was about to say something to her, when she surprised him by roughly grabbing his flight suit and pulling his mouth against hers. The kiss was desperate and he knew he had to put a stop to it before all his senses slipped away. "Evie," he gasped, pushing her away, slightly, "not... not here."

"Then where?" she asked, heavily. "I need to _feel_ something more than fear right now, Poe, _please._ "

"Come on, sweetheart," he said, reaching for her hand. "Let's get out of here."

* * *

Hux was furious, but unlike his counterpart Kylo Ren standing next to him, he kept his fury on the inside. Lashing out did no one any good the young general had learned as a child. He simply clasped his hands behind his back and waited until Terex was done recounting the events on Scarif. When the Imperial agent was done, Hux contemplated his answer. 

Ren was the one that snapped first before Hux could even get a word out. "Your men were under strict orders not to harm her; attempting to bring her starfighter down would have led to serious injury or death."

Terex wasn't intimidated by the fallen Jedi, especially where in his eyes Ren was another more than a weak version of Darth Vader. "Listen, I under estimated Dameron. It will not happen again Master Ren."

"See to it that it does not, Terex," Ren spat, before turning and walking briskly out of the Hux's office.

Still remaining neutral on the outside, Hux glanced at the agent. "The Resistance is going to be well aware now that are in pursuit of Evelyn Skywalker. I have no doubt that General Organa will keep her niece at their base and away from any missions that Black Squadron goes on. Do we have another plan, Agent Terex?"

Terex rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I have a few, General," he said. "They require tactics that many in the galaxy might deem _unethical._ "

"Look around you. Do you think I care about ethics?"

"Good point, General. If I may suggest--I keep pursuing Black Squadron. It might lull the Resistance into believing we no longer seek Miss Skywalker." 

Hux nodded. The First Order still needed the information that the Resistance pilots were scouring the galaxy for. If he sent Terex after them, well, it killed two birds with one stone--eventually--as soon as Leia Organa felt it safe to send her niece back out. "You will keep me updated."

Terex agreed and glanced in the direction that Ren had disappeared in. "And what about Master Ren? He seems as interested in the girl as the Supreme Leader."

Long had Ren's personal history with the Skywalkers made Hux doubt exactly where his loyalties laid. However, the galaxy was not privy to the deep connection that Kylo Ren had to the last remaining Jedi in the galaxy. "If he's interested it is only because Snoke is," Hux finally answered. "I do not believe that he will interfere with your mission, Agent Terex."

"I hope not. I have enough problems with Dameron around."

"Hopefully throughout the course of all this--he'll be taken care of."

"Are you giving me permission to kill him, General?" Terex asked, quirking an eyebrow. He'd been told he could dispose of any of Black Squadron if they stood in the way of him obtaining his target, but he hadn't been given outright permission to assassinate anyone.

For a second Hux didn't say a word. Dameron had been a thorn in his side since they had caught up to Lothor. "I'm giving you permission to do whatever it takes to complete the mission for the Supreme Leader and the First Order."

* * *

Even though Leia had assured Poe that she was going to give Black Squadron a break, he still found himself on edge--waiting almost impatiently for the next call. He tried to calm his nerves by working on _Black One_ but the solitude of working on his ship only offered him time for his mind to wander. And the one prevailing thought he kept having--keep Evelyn safe, out of the hands of the First Order. _Out of the hands of Kylo Ren._

"Hey Commander," a friendly voice said below the belly of _Black One._ "Lieutenant Pava sent me to find Lieutenant Skywalker. Have you seen her?"

"Sorry, Oddy," Poe said, glancing down at the mechanic. "Haven't seen her since breakfast. What does Jess need her for?"

Oddy looked away and suddenly became a little anxious, which seemed odd to Poe. "She, ah... she wanted some help with her droid. You know the droids have nicknamed her the Droid Killer, right? She was hoping that Evelyn would be able to settle her new droid--she seems to have a knack for handling them."

Poe had to agree. Evelyn had grown up with droids around her--Artoo, Threepio--if anyone could handle temperamental droids it was her. He wiped his hands on a cloth and turned towards the ladder. "I may not be the droid whisperer that Evie is, Oddy, but I might be able to help."

"Oh, don't worry about it, Commander. I'll keep looking for Lieutenant Skywalker."

"Are you sure? She's pretty good at hiding when she doesn't want to be found."

"I'm sure, sir," Oddy said, walking away, nervously. 

BB-8 pointed out the awkwardness of the conversation once Oddy was gone. Poe nodded his head. "Yeah, I agree, buddy. _That_ was strange." He didn't get to ponder it much more, he was being called to command.

Jumping down from his x-wing and not bothering to pull the half of his flight suit he'd tied around his waist, Poe made his way inside the base alongside BB-8. Snap, Jess, and Karé were already there when he arrived. "Did Oddy find Evie for you?" he inquired of Jess.

She looked confused. Jess glanced at Snap and then Karé. "Was I looking for her?"

His brow furrowed. "Yeah. He said you wanted her to talk to your droid."

"I haven't seen Oddy all morning. Why would he think I needed Evelyn?"

"You are the Droid Killer."

"Shut up, Snap."

Poe tossed them a slight smile, but deep inside he did not feel good about Oddy lying to him. He didn't think in the weeks that he'd been here that he'd given the mechanic any reason not to trust him. Could Oddy by connected to the mole activity? Instantly, he felt guilty for even being suspicious of one of his teammates. Poe would trust his team with his life--he just didn't see one of them handing information over to the First Order to put all of them in danger. Hell, Snap and Jess had been almost shot out of the skies because of the leaked intel.

Leia stepped into the room then, eyes immediately going to Poe. "I know I told you that I would give your squad a break. But we have a problem. We finally managed to figure out what Agent Lothor had sent Lor San Tekka--a map to the very first Jedi Temple."

Snap's eyebrows shot up in curiosity. "This is important because..."

"Rumor has it that's where Master Skywalker retreated too," Poe answered for Leia. "The First Order is looking for him."

"It appears to be that way," Leia said with a soft sigh. "Which could also explain why they want Evelyn."

"Kriff," Jess cursed. "They want to use her as bait."

Feeling BB-8 nudged his leg, Poe glanced down at his droid, trying to compose himself. Evelyn and Kaleb had had very little contact with their father since their mother's funeral. They weren't even aware of his exact location. Looking back at Leia, he saw the pain flash in her eyes. "What do you want Black Squadron to do, ma'am?"

Leia smiled, wirily at him. "I'm glad you asked, Commander. Ever been to Ovanis?"

"Ah, can't say that I have."

"It's the last known location of Tekka. He was living with the Créche."

"The Créche?"

Korr stepped forward then, a data pad in her hand. "Yes, a culture that lives in caverns underneath the planet's surface. According to Master Tekka's essays, these people guard an egg."

Poe was almost afraid to ask, but he did anyway because curiosity got the best of him. "Why?"

"They believe that the creature inside the egg is going to save the galaxy," Korr replied, seriously.

"You asked," Snap drawled as the exasperated look came over Poe's face.

"Do you want us to leave immediately, General?" Poe inquired, shooting a glare at Snap.

Leia nodded. "Yes," she ordered, watching as Black Squadron turned to go, "and Poe, do not engage the First Order if they show up--that's an order."


	20. Chapter 20

The base felt a little quieter with both Black Squadron and Red Squadron away on missions. Evelyn passed the time that they were away by working on her fighter with CB-2 and Rose. It helped keep her mind off the fact that she was not out there helping Poe and the others; that her aunt had been forced to ground her due to the threat on her life.

Perched on the wing of the fighter, she had a good view of the entire flight pad, and the glaring absence of several fighters. She missed her brother; she missed her friends; she missed Poe. She didn't expect to be this lonely while the squadrons were away, but she was.

Evelyn wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand. Her flight gear was resting in the cockpit of the x-wing, untouched, since she was grounded for the foreseeable future. She'd pulled her long hair back into a bun and the kyber pendant almost burned against her skin in the sun. She was afraid to take it off--afraid that if she did something would happen to Poe while he was away on the latest mission. L'ulo had promised to return Poe in one piece, but given that she knew how _hard_ it was to keep that promise, Evelyn felt a growing pit in her stomach the longer Black Squadron was away.

Of course the growing pit in her stomach could also be attributed to Jas Dane hanging around now that Poe was off-planet. Evelyn could see him now, sauntering over like he was the maker's gift to woman...

"Lunch time, gorgeous," Jas called up to her. "Care to join me?"

"No," Evelyn snapped just wanting him to go away. 

"Come on, Evelyn. We can't be friends?"

"I'm sure we could be--if that's what you really wanted."

Jas smiled at her and he shrugged his shoulders. "Can you blame me, gorgeous? I've missed you in my bed, darling."

Evelyn rolled her eyes in disgust. If she wasn't trying to hold onto a little bit of dignity here, or discretion, she would have informed him that the best she had was with Poe. "Go away, Jas. Rose and I are very busy."

Rose watched Evelyn's reaction as Jas climbed up onto the x-wing to join them. Since Black Squadron had been gone the spy had been hanging around Evelyn's fighter--a lot. For the most part, Evelyn had outright rejected his advances. If what Paige told her was true than Rose was certain there was a lot more than friendship going on between Poe and Evelyn. Therefore, her friend wasn't interested in Jas trying to weasel his way back into her life. 

"You don't look busy," Jas said with a shrug. "Come on, it's hot--let's get inside."

"I don't mind the heat," Evelyn argued. "I grew up in a jungle."

"So, if you don't mind the heat... we could always go make some of our own."

"Been there, done that, Jas. Not interested in going there again."

Jas clenched his fists and his eyes darkened with lust, anger. "Are you afraid of being discovered by _him,_ gorgeous?" 

Evelyn returned his glare, but there was no desire burning in her eyes, just annoyance. "No. It has nothing to do with that."

Rose noticed that Jas was itching to answer, itching to probably disparage Poe--it was well known throughout the base that the spy wasn't a huge fan of their wing commander. However, central command came over the intercoms, signaling that a squadron was arriving back from a mission. Turning her eyes up wards as the roar of engines could be heard, Rose watched as the fighters appeared in the sky. "Looks like Black Squadron's back."

Jumping down from her x-wing, Evelyn stood underneath the fuselage, hugging herself and watched as the four x-wings and one a-wing appeared in the blue sky. It didn't look like the fighters were heavily damaged, and she wondered if perhaps the First Order hadn't bothered with following Black Squadron, since their latest mission was to find Lor San Tekka and had nothing to do with the transmissions that Agent Lothor had sent out before his death. Once the fighters were securely on the ground and technicians were tending them, Evelyn ventured out from underneath her own fighter. She didn't need the Force to know that something had gone wrong--Poe's demeanor tipped her off. He always wore his heart on his sleeve, and when she had been connected with the Force, his voice had always been one of the loudest ones that she could hear. 

Poe glanced at her, their eyes locking. He took a step towards her, but then hesitated. She didn't need to turn around to know why--Jas was standing behind her. Evelyn had felt his ominous presence and she had been in the middle of plenty of Poe and Jas' silent stand-offs to know he was there. 

"Commander Dameron!" Connix shouted for him across the tarmac. "General Organa wants to see you _immediately._ " 

"Yeah, I'm on my way," Poe shouted back, turning sharply on his heel and heading into the base. 

Evelyn quickly ran after him, ignoring Jas' smug grin. Setting her jaw, Evelyn turned her attention towards the storming away pilot. "Poe!" 

Poe waved his hand, dismissing her. "Not now, Evelyn."

He was _angry;_ what he was angry about she wasn't sure. Catching up to him, Evelyn grabbed his wrist. Poe didn't stop moving, instead he yanked his hand out of her grasp and repeated, "I said not now!"

She stepped back, wincing from the pure rage in his voice, and watched as he walked away, not even bothering to look back at her once. Evelyn stood there, looking in the direction Poe had gone in long after he was gone.

"Trouble in paradise?" Jas questioned behind her. 

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Evelyn countered, turning to glare at him.

Jas pushed a sweaty lock of her hair out of her eyes. "Listen, when he breaks your heart--you know where to find me."

Evelyn hugged herself. _Poe won't break my heart, so I won't be looking for you._

* * *

BB-8 was the one that reminded Poe that he'd been a little cross with Evelyn after landing. Poe swiped a hand over his face. He'd been very tense after the mission, especially since Agent Terex had shown up trying to undermine him. Black Squadron had to fight to protect the people in the Creché, despite being told by Leia to not engage. After a stalemate, Terex and his men had left the planet, and Poe, fuming that the First Order had found them once again, had ordered his squad back to base.

It was clear that Terex wasn't just after Evelyn. The First Order wanted to take his entire squadron out and Poe was feeling increasingly helpless--like he couldn't protect his people. _And top of all this, Tekka wasn't even there._

Poe sighed, and glanced at BB-8. "Yeah... I know, I wasn't very kind to her."

BB-8 indigently blurted at him. Poe grumbled and headed up towards the flight pad to complete the little droid's demand that he go apologize to her. He wondered what the droid techs back on Hosnian Prime would think if they knew he was taking orders from his astromech. On the surface, Poe found her by her fighter. Quickly looking around he discovered that Jas was no where in sight. He would have been lying if he said seeing Jas with Evelyn earlier didn't make him jealous; it made him jealous, and after hearing the-not-so quiet whispers around base that Jas had been hanging around Evelyn _a lot_ since Poe left, it made him extremely jealous.

Evelyn heard their approach when BB-8 greeted her. She offered him a soft smile, wiping her hands on a grease stained cloth. Tentatively she took a step towards Poe but then stepped back, still not sure if he was angry at her or something else. 

"I'm sorry, Evie," Poe sighed. "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that earlier."

"It's fine, Poe," Evelyn said, softly. "You're under a lot of pressure."

"No. It's not fine. I shouldn't talk to you that way."

"Talk to me what way?"

"Disrespectfully, like you're not important."

She looked away, the wind picking up the stray pieces of her hair, and when she looked back at him, she smiled. "Do you really think I'm angry at you?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "BeeBee told me I had to apologize."

Evelyn laughed, softly. "It wasn't necessary, but apology accepted."

Poe finally gave her an easy smile. "Had lunch yet?"

"Are you asking me on a lunch date?" she questioned, coyly.

"Maybe I am," he responded just as coyly.

"Well, you're in luck--I haven't eaten yet."

"Luck? I don't believe in luck, sweetheart."

Wiping her hands clean on her flight suit, Evelyn playfully rolled her eyes at him. Along with their droids, they walked back into the base, not holding hands but bodies brushing so closely together that it did cause eyebrows to raise in curiosity. It was later in the afternoon, and the mess hall wasn't that busy. Poe and Evelyn easily found Black Squadron seated at a table, engaged in lively conversation. In that moment, Evelyn realized how quiet it had been around the base without them the last few days. 

Jess glanced up and then snapped her fingers at Wexley. "Pay up, Captain."

Snap grumbled and shoved ten credits in her hand. "One of these days I'm going to win."

"Yeah, sure you are," Karé said with a chuckle. She playfully elbowed him in the stomach. "You've lost fifty credits in the last week."

"Fifty?" Poe repeated, grinning. "Wow, Snap, I didn't realize you were such a gambler."

"You'd probably be better off betting on how many times Evie turns Dane down," Jess quipped. 

Poe's jaw clenched. He knew that he didn't have to worry about Evelyn, but he did worry about Jas. The spy seemed like the kind of man that would just take what he wanted if he got tired of hearing _no._ Just seeing him standing near her earlier that day had made him jealous...

Evelyn's fingers brushed against his and he realized the squad had been talking about something. "Did you hear Snap? He says that we need a party."

He nodded, somewhat dazed. "Yeah, sure."

She gave him a concerned look but he waved it off. "I'll leave all the planning to Snap," Poe remarked. "He's the master."


	21. Chapter 21

It never failed, by the end of the week, if you need a party planned, the pilots had set up a make-shift bar with whatever booze they had found on supply runs. Snap would always have his moonshine on tap as well, but Poe knew from experience to just stay away from that stuff. He wasn't one to shy away from a little indulgence every once and a while, as long as he didn't need to drag anyone's asses out of the brig for too much moonshine and fighting. 

For the last several days, the Resistance had gotten no where in tracing anymore of Lothor's transmissions or in locating Lor San Tekka. It had led to a few heated confrontations between Jas Dane and the members of Black Squadron, Leia being the one to calm the tempest. Poe was close to pulling his squad from this mission; Dane constantly treated them with disrespect and made lewd comments towards Evelyn, Karé and Jess, clearly putting his disrespect for women on display. It was even starting to get underneath Snap's skin since he regarded Jess and Evelyn as little sisters--and Karé? Well, _everyone_ knew how Snap felt about her...

Hopefully, tonight would help his friends ease some stress; they were all in need of a little fun, which was probably why Snap had organized the bonfire and party down by the lake that evening.

Nights on D'Qar were cool, once the sun disappeared from the sky. Poe tossed his favorite leather jacket on over his shirt as he made his way towards Evelyn's quarters. He was a little late going to pick her up--he'd gotten tied up in some meeting at the end of shift and had been late returning to his own quarters. Poe sighed. He was doing it again. He was putting his commitment to the Cause before her. This was why he'd lost her the last time, because he put his duty before his love of her.

He was going to have to be better at placing her first. Tonight, was a step in the right direction. Poe could have stayed behind in that situation room planning for hours, instead, he was looking forward to having some drinks with his friends. 

CB-2 greeted him when the door to her quarters opened. Poe smiled at the little droid, affectionately scratched her on the side, like he would often do with BB-8, and laughed when the little droid offered to give them privacy, rolling off to the hanger. Stepping inside the room Poe caught sight of Evelyn. She was wearing a simple, sleeveless, emerald dress that highlighted her curves. She'd left her hair down, which was something she never did considering how hot it could get during the day. Poe was suddenly rendered speechless, which hardly ever happened to him. 

"Hi," Evelyn said, turning to face him. She clasped her kyber pendant behind her neck, letting it fall gracefully along her collarbone. 

"Hey," Poe said, still soaking her in. He stepped towards her, eyes softening as he gazed at her. "You look beautiful tonight."

Evelyn smiled, shyly at him, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. "Just tonight?"

Poe grinned at her, gently placing his hands on her waist. "Oh no, you're beautiful all the time, just tonight... even more than usual."

She reached up and adjusted his collar, wondering if if he knew how good he looked in the leather jacket, black pants and white shirt. "You clean up rather nicely yourself."

He moved one his hands to the small of her back and pulled her closer to him. Dipping his head, his mouth connected with hers. Instantly the scent of her perfume filled his nostrils, fueling his desire even more. Her lips were soft, supple, and he couldn't resist the urge to run his tongue along her bottom lip before he tasted her. Hearing her little moan of pleasure made his heart slam against his chest. 

"We're...we're gonna be late," Evelyn gasped between his heated kisses.

"So? That party is going to be going all night, sweetheart," Poe replied, letting his hands explore her exposed skin. "Let's be late."

"If we leave the party early we have all night together..."

"I like the sound of that better..."

"Figured you might."

"Shall we get going then, princess?"

Evelyn let him take her hand, pull her out of her quarters. She wrapped her fingers around his, not caring if they were making heads turn or about the hurried whispers that followed them down to the lake as they walked hand in hand. Daring to look at Poe, she could see his brown eyes sparkling with warmth, the corners of his mouth pulled in a sweet smile. She tightened her hold on his hand and leaned against his shoulder while they walked towards the sound of chatter and music.

Poe pressed a kiss to her temple. If he was lucky, he'd find the time and the privacy tonight to actually kiss her again. The other members of Black Squadron would hopefully be too drunk to even notice or even have the mindset to interrupt them. As they approached the party, Jess waved them over. She'd found a grassy patch near the lake and, he noted, she had a bottle of brandy in her hand. On a nearby tree stump were several empty shot glasses, just waiting for the pilots to use them.

Jess grinned wildly as Poe sat down in the grass, guiding Evelyn down towards him and situating her between his legs. "Snap owes me twenty credits; I _knew_ you two would show up here, together."

"Aw, kriff," Snap groaned as he arrived and saw them sitting there. He grumbled and handed the credits over to Jess.

"Hey, if you want to win money on me," Poe quipped with a big grin, "maybe you should let me in on the bet."

"Shut up, Dameron."

"Ouch, he's grumpy when he loses."

Evelyn laughed. "Just wait until you see him drink..."

Poe looked at Snap in shock. "You get grumpier?"

Jess shook her head. "No, he gets friendlier. Real friendly."

Snap poured the first round of shots. He passed them out to his fellow squad mates. "At least in this bar we can drink...and hopefully this time Poe won't start a fight." He gestured across the sandy beach towards a rather furious looking Jas. "He's already made one spy very jealous."

"Don't worry," Evelyn said, letting her head fall back to rest against Poe's chest, "Jas won't do a damn thing. He wouldn't want someone messing up his pretty face."

"I don't know, a black eye might improve that scowl," Poe joked, just before tipping his head back and downing his shot. He wrapped one arm tightly around her waist as he poured himself another drink. "If I happen to be the one to give it to him, then I happen to be the one to give it to him." 

"You're gonna have to get in line," Iolo remarked as he joined them. "I think Karé might have first shots at him."

"Why Karé?" Jess asked. 

"Guy's a scumbag. He undressed practically every woman in central command yesterday and then he was hitting on Karé after lunch."

"Poe. You're gonna have to let me get a swing in first."

"Easy there, Snap, that's the booze talking."

Snap threw Poe a stiff glare and then poured another round of shots, passing them out to his fellow pilots. "Just drink," he ordered them. The pilots burst out laughing, and then fell into easy conversation. 

It was nice to take a break from the constant stress of mission planning and briefings, Poe realized. Maybe it was the alcohol that was creating a nice buzz, but Poe felt the most relaxed since joining the Resistance. Every now and then, when he lifted his eyes to look across the beach at the party, he'd catch the almost possessive way that Jas' looked at Evelyn. This made Poe pull her closer and not because he was trying to make Jas jealous, but because he felt the need to protect her. _And maybe to make him a little bit jealous..._

He wasn't sure how many rounds of brandy the pilots had consumed, Poe just knew that they were laughing and sharing stories--at one point Snap sang them a song. It was also obvious that Poe and Evelyn weren't going to hide their feelings anymore, not with the affectionate caresses and soft kisses the pair exchanged. 

They were all feeling pretty good from the alcohol when Jess announced that she was going to get more booze for the group and gestured for Evelyn to join her.

Evelyn slipped from underneath his arm, planted a kiss on Poe's cheek and told him she’d be right back. As she weaved her way through the party, she felt a hand grab her arm.

Rose had caught up to her. “What are you doing?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh come on, the flirting, the touching—kissing Poe's cheek. _Everyone_ is talking. You keep this up you’re going to end up in his room tonight.”

“So? Maybe that’s what I want.”

“Well, judging by the way he’s looking at you—he wants it too.”

Evelyn sauntered up to the bar, glancing over her shoulder to see that Poe was watching her every move—his dark eyes drinking in the sight of her, like she was the only woman on that beach. Poe quirked a coy smile in her direction as he held her gaze. 

Jess chuckled and elbowed her while they waited at the bar for their drinks. "I'm telling you... the two of you should just kiss already! It's so obvious that the two of you want each other."

Rose wasn't sure if Jess had heard the rumors going around, but the mechanic was pretty sure the two of themhad already kissed. Judging by the way Poe and Evelyn were looking at one another, it was hard to dispel those rumors. "Are you and Snap betting on that too?"

"Hey, Snap's the one that keeps making the bets and then losing them," Jess said with a shrug.

"Since I'm involved in the bet someway," Evelyn interjected, "when am I suppose to kiss Poe?"

"I have it happening tonight; I have twenty credits on it."

"What did Snap say?"

"Snap thinks you're both going to be stubborn for another week."

Evelyn looked for Poe once again, but he wasn't sitting where the other pilots were gathered. She glanced at Jess with a wide grin. "What if I told you that you're both wrong?"

Jess quirked an eyebrow. "Really?"

Rose laughed. "I knew it."

"Wait," Jess said, eyes going wide. "You kissed Poe? When?"

"When you left us alone in the cockpit on the 690," Evelyn replied, honestly.

"BeeBee said nothing happened!"

"BeeBee was sworn to secrecy."

Jess half-glared at her, half-smiled, grabbed up the new bottle of brandy, and headed back towards where the rest of the pilots were sitting. 

Evelyn laughed and turned to follow, when she felt someone grab onto her wrist--forcefully. She was roughly turned towards the person that had grabbed her and she came face to face with Jas. The possessive, hungry look in his eyes made her blood run cold and instantly she sobered up. "Jas, what do you want?"

Jas gestured with his chin in the direction of the pilots. "I don't get it, Evelyn. You tell me that I'm arrogant, only care about myself, and yet you're with _that_ guy. What can you possibly see in _him_? He walks around here like he owns the place, that he can do my job better than I can--he flirts with everyone woman on base. Something, by the way, you accused me of doing."

She could hear the cold, hard, hatred in Jas' voice. "Maybe I like him because he doesn't treat me like the only thing I'm good for is sleeping around. You know, he actually cares about me and my feelings."

He scoffed. "I care about you, Evelyn. We didn't break up because I didn't care. We broke up because I couldn't give you what you wanted. Newsflash, Poe Dameron can't give you what you want, either. The Resistance, the cause, that's more important to him. He isn't going to give you love or a family or all those silly things girls want."

"Let go of me," Evelyn snapped, tears springing into her eyes. _Don't listen to him; you know Poe loves you..._

"No. Not until you listen to me," Jas argued, tightening his hold on her wrist. "I'm tired of being disrespected by you, a woman."

"Jas! You're hurting me! Please, let go!"

"Why? So you can run off? Back to him so you can humiliate me some more? I don't think so, Evelyn!"

Evelyn felt his fingers close even tighter around her wrist, causing pain to shoot up her arm and she let out a small cry. Her fight or flight instinct began to kick in and as she stood there, thinking about how to take Jas down, _someone else_ punched him right in the face.

Jas stumbled backwards, crashing into several unsuspecting mechanics, before he toppled against the make-shift bar. Blood seeped out of his nose and guessing by its angle, it was broken... when the spy glanced in her direction with such malice and fury, it caused her heart to beat anxiously. He made a fist and growled, "You'll pay for that, Commander."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that updates have been a little bit slower. I'm a teacher and schools are closed in my state so I am "teaching" from home, which is a new adventure in itself. I hope to keep up with somewhat regular updates however to help everyone get through this crazy time. Stay healthy friends :)


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We earn that rating again in this chapter peeps ;)

Poe flexed the hand that had just landed a devastating punch to Jas Dane's face. He'd known there was a reason why he didn't like the possessive look in Jas' eyes and when he saw Jas closing in on an unsuspecting Evelyn, Poe had moved from his spot on the beach towards her. Unfortunately, he hadn't been as quick as he'd like to have been, having to weave his way through the crowd of people. By the time he'd gotten to her, Jas had a death grip on her wrist... she was begging him to let go of her... and Poe had taken his shot, fueled by rage and perhaps by a lot of alcohol. 

Jas glared at him, blood dripping from his nose. It was clearly broken and if Evelyn was right about Jas' vanity, well, Poe knew that the spy wasn't going to be happy in the morning... he wasn't happy now as he clenched his fists and threatened that Poe was going to pay for punching him.

Instead of backing away, Poe stood his ground. "Oh, I highly doubt that," he snarked as he threw his thumb over his shoulder at Black Squadron hovering just behind him. "You see, you hurt one of us, you hurt all of us, Dane."

"So, you're going to take the coward's way out, Dameron, and hide behind your pilots."

"Actually, I'm not hiding behind them at all... I'm standing in front of them."

Poe just managed to get out of the way of Jas taking a swing at him; the spy landed the punch into his hip. Cursing, Poe stumbled but held his hand up to stop Snap and Jess from going on the attack. He really didn't want to start a huge fight. "Come on," he said to his squad, "let's go." 

Snap narrowed his eyes on Dane before turning to head back to their spot on the edge of the beach. Jess followed behind him. Poe found Evelyn's hand and gently led her away, figuring that this was the end of it--until Jas threw a derogatory slur at her that Poe had heard most often in the sleazy parts of the galaxy where women were treated like they were nothing.

Evelyn tried to hold him back, begged him to just forget it, but Poe couldn't let it go. Still holding onto her hand, as if he was trying to tell her that he wasn't about to get physical, Poe turned to glare at the spy. "You wanna repeat that with the General present? Or would rather not let her know what you _really_ think about her niece? Or just about women in general?"

Jas sized him up for a moment and the laughed, darkly. "Boy do they have you by the balls, Dameron. They're _just_ women."

Poe clenched his jaw. He felt a hand on his shoulder, heard Snap tell him to let it go... but he couldn't let it go. Leia had been someone he looked up to as a child, she had offered him comfort as a child when his mother had died... and Evelyn... she meant the galaxy to him... they weren't _just_ women to him.. and while he was thinking about how to respond... Jas taunted him again, telling him to go off with his _whore._

Snap let go of Poe and took a step back as the commander took Jas down with one swift kick. In less than a second, the party atmosphere on the beach changed as the fight escalated, forcing people to scatter out the way so they couldn't get hurt. Poe was much more aggressive in this fight than he'd been at the cantina on Nar Shadda, and each blow he landed probably gave him too much satisfaction. No one was sure how long the altercation really lasted, until finally Kaleb and Iolo managed to get a hold of Poe and one of Major Ematt's ground troopers grabbed a hold of Jas.

"That's enough!" Kaleb yelled, throwing a glare at Snap. "Maybe it's time we all called it a night, Wexley."

"Sounds like a good idea," Snap affirmed, grabbing a hold of Poe and yanking him towards the path that would lead back to base. "Start breaking everything down!"

Chatter struck up on the beach as the crowds dispersed and groups began to breakdown the makeshift tables and bar. Poe briefly made eye contact with Evelyn as Snap dragged him along, her eyes were filled with tears and he felt terrible... if he had just walked away and let it go...

Poe stumbled along the path with Snap. _This_ was not how he had imagined the night ending. _I definitely didn't picture Snap being the one to take me home..._

Snap sighed, heavily. "Working with Dane is going to be a lot harder now."

“He was _hurting_ her; she was begging him to let go,” Poe argued as Snap dragged him back to his quarters. “You _saw_ that, right?”

“Yeah, yeah I saw,” Snap said as they moved down the corridors towards the officer’s quarters.

“And you heard what he called her, didn’t you? Disrespectful son of a bitch.”

“Yeah, I heard him Poe. Why’d you think I let you go?”

Poe blinked. “Oh… I thought I broke free.”

Snap chuckled. “Dameron, you’re so intoxicated, I’m surprised you can stand let alone throw a punch. But it was because of Evie, so… wish you’d just tell her already.”

“Tell her what?” Poe asked, innocently.

“For kriff’s sake, Poe—that you love her,” Snap barked.

Poe didn't respond; any response he had would have been a lie... unless he told Snap the truth--that he _had_ told Evelyn he loved her. "I just think... Force, Snap, she can do so much better than that son of a bitch."

Snap deposited Poe onto his bunk and placed his hands on his hips. "Listen, you weren't around when she was with Dane--a droid would be a step up from him."

"So if a droid is a step up, what would that make me, a prince?" Poe asked, a huge grin on his face.

"That maybe a little bit of a stretch," Snap countered. "But if we're comparing you to Dane--yeah, you're a prince, Dameron."

"My mother used to call me her little prince."

"Huh... wonder what she would think of her little prince now, having started not one, but _two_ fights over the same woman."

Poe continued to grin and shrugged his shoulders. His mother had died when he was eight; everything he knew, remembered about her, suggested that she would have scolded her son publicly for the fighting, but would have pat him on the back in private for sticking up for someone he cared about. "I think she'd be proud of me."

Snap shook his head and threw some sleep clothes at the commander. "I'm not sure what your mother would have said, but I can imagine your dad wouldn't be too happy."

"My dad would have been right there in the thick of it with me if he knew what Dane called Evie," Poe replied. "She's like a daughter to him."

"Is that what you're going to say to the General?"

"What?"

Snap glared at him, slightly. "Come on, Poe. You know General Organa is going to hear about this. What are you going to say to her?"

Poe sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "That I tried _really_ hard not to hit him."

Before Snap could respond, there was a knock on the door. Both pilots looked at one another, confused. Who would be stopping by Poe's quarters this late at night? Snap moved across the small room and slapped his hand on the keypad to open the door. His eyes shot up in surprise when he saw Evelyn. "Hey, Evie."

Evelyn took a little step back, just as surprised to see Snap as he was to see her. Timidly, her eyes flickered up to catch Poe's gaze from his bunk, and then she quickly looked away. "Hi... I just came... is Poe okay?"

"The prince?" Snap quipped with a little chuckle. "He's fine, drunk as hell, but fine."

"Hey!" Poe shouted from the bed, attempting to stand up. "I am _not_ drunk!"

"Sure, your highness; you're totally sober."

"Oh, well, I wouldn't say I'm totally sober..."

Snap smiled and shook his head. "Good luck, Evie," he said, before stepping out of Poe's quarters. "See you two in the morning!"

Evelyn stepped into the room, shutting the door behind her. She engaged the locking unit and looked at him, biting on her lower lip. Poe suddenly realized she hadn't come here just to check up on him...his heart skipped several beats at this realization and slowly he got to his feet.

Poe took a step towards her, reaching out he tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. He let his fingers linger there, chocolate eyes drinking in the sight of her pretty face. His other hand gripped her waist, drawing her in and then his lips brushed against hers… she felt fire spread across her skin as his soft lips caressed her own, enticing her to part hers, giving him full access to deepen their kiss. 

They broke apart only briefly to take a breath, and then his lips found hers again, tongues exploring each other’s mouth. Her leg wrapped around his as the two desperately tried to get as close as possible… he was hard already, fully aroused by just her kiss... if he could have, he would have taken her standing right there in the middle of his room...

Hooking an arm underneath her legs, he easily lifted her off the floor and carried her to the bunk. Gently, Poe laid her on top of the blankets before kicking his boots off and joining her. Immediately his hands buried in her hair as he kissed her fervently. He chuckled against her lips when she pushed his jacket off. "You know... when I first arrived here... I remember someone telling me that we should take it slow..."

She couldn't resist playing with the one errant curl that fell across his forehead. Her eyes rested on his lips, slightly swollen from their kissing, and she let out a gentle breath. "We threw slow out the window on Scarif."

His lips quirked into a soft smile just before they pressed hers in a soft, languid kiss. "Actually, it was a tent we threw it out of... but semantics..."

Evelyn sighed as his lips brushed a kiss so soft on her neck that it felt more like a breath against her skin. She felt his stubble scrap against her jawline just before he captured her lips in another searing kiss. _Maker, was he a good kisser._ His hands gently explored her body, pushing the hem of her dress up to her stomach; her own hands got tangled up in his thick curls and at that moment she didn't care that she had spent all that time getting ready for the party. 

Poe pulled away from their kiss, softly biting her lower lip before he stood up. He moved across the room and went to dim the lights. 

"What are you doing?"

"You said you wanted to be romanced. I'm making it as romantic as possible with very little time to prepare."

Slowly, she got off the bunk and moved towards him, reaching behind her and unzipping her dress. His brown eyes burned with lust as the dress fell from around her to the floor. He held his breath while she unbuttoned his shirt and then pushed it, gently off his shoulders. Her palms ran down his toned chest while he shouldered his way out of the shirt, adding the garment to the dress already on the floor.

He wrapped an arm around her slim waist, drawing her to him, their bodies pressed tightly together. The skin on skin contact caused both of them to hum in pleasure, adding to the pleasant buzz of alcohol. Poe slowly lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her, wanting to savor every little swipe of her tongue against his.

It was during this languid kiss that she found the buckle of his belt. He continued to kiss her while she worked his pants down over his hips and his obvious arousal. Stepping out of them, Poe guided her back towards the bunk. He sat down on it, gazing up at her with love and desire in his brown eyes as she stood above him, playing with his hair. 

Poe pressed soft, affectionate kisses to her stomach, gripping her waist. Gently, he drew her towards him, her legs wrapping around him as he rolled her underneath him. His breath hitched, at how beautiful she looked in the low light, hair spread out over the pillow—the only thing she was wearing was her pendant. “Gods, Evie, you’re so beautiful.” He softly kissed a trail down her jawline to the hollow of her neck, and then moving lower, gently taking one of her breasts into his mouth.

Evelyn smiled and sighed as his tongue and lips tugged and pulled at her nipple, her fingers lazily moving across his broad shoulders. He knew just where to touch her, what to do to ultimately satisfy her. A jolt of electricity shot through her body as his nose pushed her legs apart and his tongue grazed the inside of her thigh just before he pushed it inside of her. Everything became fuzzy as he worked her clit, as he sent wave after wave of pleasure through her body...

She was still coming down from her first organism when his hands slid down the sides of her body and he thrust inside of her. He let out a soft moan, his breath hot and moist against her neck. And then his lips began to kiss her lips, she could taste herself on them, and he rocked his hips forward in a steady motion. Their bodies moved together, instantly working together to find their rhythm; their emotional connection to one another made their physical connection much more intense than any other they had with another lover. It didn't start out fast or urgent, it was passionate, intimate, with a feeling of tenderness. The more entangled they got, the more urgent their movements. Her fingers dug slightly into his toned back, a pleasurable sigh escaping her lips as the cool metal from his dog tags brushed against her shoulder, moving with their efforts.

He wanted to make it last as long as possible, but already he could feel his body rebeling against his wishes as his the pace of his thrusts incased. Both of them were taking gasping breathes now as their bodies crashed together over and over.

“I love you, Evelyn,” he whispered, feeling himself nearing his breaking point.

“I…I love you too,” she cried, softly.

This admission sent both soaring over the edge. He collapsed next to her, struggling to catch his breath. Carefully, he wrapped her into his arms and kissed her forehead, tasting the thin layer of sweat… For a moment all they did was lay there, listening to the rapid beats of their hearts, their heavy breathing, and then Poe chuckled. "And Snap bet that we were going to take things slow."

She laughed, hoarsely, and planted a kiss on his shoulder blade. Nuzzling his chest, Evelyn sighed, "We could always tell him nothing happened."

He gently cupped the back of her head and raised her lips to his. "Now, see that would be a lie, sweetheart," Poe said, deepening their kiss, "because it's going to happen--again--and it's going to happen again, tonight."


	23. Chapter 23

Sunlight warming his face woke him the next morning.

Poe blinked open his eyes, giving them a few moments to adjust to the light in his quarters. There was a dull throbbing in his temples and his stomach felt like there was a tiny x-wing inside performing tricks. Slowly, he became aware of the weight on his chest, the brown hair in his face and he smiled because waking up with her in his arms had been something he'd been dreaming about since he walked away five years ago. Poe gently shifted, trying not to wake the woman sleeping against him but his movements stirred her. He felt her arms tighten around his waist and then blue eyes were opening to look into his brown ones.

“Hi,” Evelyn sighed, smiling at him, sleepily. “Did you sleep well?”

“Hey,” Poe said, his fingers slipping through her hair. “Yeah. Did you?”

She sighed again, closed her eyes, and snuggled against his bare chest. “Yes. I think I could get used to this.”

He brought his lips to hers in a gentle kiss. “I could get used to this too.”

“I should probably get back to my quarters,” she said, languidly. “Otherwise, the whole base will know…”

“Let them all know,” he said, tightening his hold on her, “I don’t care. I want you to stay here, with me.”

“Poe. All my clothes are in my quarters.”

“Wear one of my shirts.”

" _Just_ one of your shirts?"

"Mmmm... yeah... just _one_ of my shirts, nothing else."

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

“Not gonna lie—yeah, I would.”

She laughed and tried to wiggle her way out of his arms. He tightened his grip on her, which caused her to laugh more. Poe loved the sound of her laugh, _force, I love everything about her,_ he thought as he pressed his lips to the pulse point in her neck. His hand moved lowered, across her stomach and then down her thigh, eventually finding the spot that he knew she was aching for him to touch. Her body arched into him and she moaned, softly. 

He used his other hand to draw her closer to him. Poe smiled against her neck as she desperately grabbed at him. "I forgot you could be a little eager in the morning," he teased her, just before lowering his mouth to hers. 

Evelyn breathlessly laughed, which turned into another low moan as he continued to stroke her. "I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one that liked morning sex."

Poe chuckled, continuing to kiss her. He certainly wasn't going to be one to say _no_ to morning sex if she was willing to...and this morning, she was definitely willing. It was more urgent than the night before, but that was fine, he rather enjoyed fast and urgent with her as much as he enjoyed worshipping her when they made love. And it accomplished the one thing he wanted--he wanted her to stay with him a little bit longer. Breathing hard, he kissed her temple as they slowly started to regain their bearings, "Definitely could get used to this, princess."

Her sweet laughter filled his room and she rolled out from underneath his arm. He was still slightly limp from their intense love making and he wasn't fast enough to stop her this time. Evelyn found her clothes on the floor and began to dress, throwing him a little grin when he sighed in protest. After dressing, she sat on her knees on his bunk, pressed her lips to his in a languid kiss, and sighed, "I'll see you at breakfast."

"Yes ma'am," Poe teased as she left his quarters.

"Bye, flyboy," Evelyn teased back, the door shutting behind her.

Grinning, Poe pulled himself out of bed. It wasn't until he was in the refresher, glancing at himself in the mirror, that he remembered getting into that fight with Jas. There were several ugly bruises on his upper body and he had a cut over his left eye. _Leia's gonna kill me._ Of course, if she knew the whole story, then perhaps she wouldn't be so angry at him. Letting out a slow breath, Poe started the shower up, trying to push some of the memories from the previous night from his mind, but he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that he'd only made things worse for his squadron when it came to Jas Dane. 

Tension was already running high between the pilots and the spy, taking a shot at him last night was not going to relieve any of that. _And Evie, did you really help her last night? You let your temper get the best of you when you should have just walked away..._

Poe took a quick shower, shaved, and then dressed. Glancing at the time, he hoped that he'd be able to catch the General in her office before the start of the day. He needed to explain himself before Jas twisted the events of last night, because Poe was almost certain he would.

* * *

"What should we do about Commander Dameron?" Major Ematt asked her, cautiously. "It's not a good look for our wing commander to be starting fights."

"In both cases, Major, he was protecting his team," Leia pointed out, taking a sip of her morning tea. Thankfully, Kaleb had filled her in on the previous night's events before Ematt had stopped by her office. "And I find it rather disgusting that Agent Dane thinks it's okay to call my niece sexist slurs in front of the entire Resistance."

Ematt cleared his throat, looking at Leia and then at the silent Major Brance. "This could compromise our entire mission, Leia. Black Squadron was already having trouble getting along with Agent Dane--I don't see those relations improving after last night."

Leia rolled her neck. Over the last few days she had wanted to punch Dane in the face as well; Poe had done them all a favor as far as she was concerned. "If we have too, we can assign another squadron. I'm going to put my faith in our people that they can put their differences aside and work for the greater good of the Resistance." 

Before the major could respond, there was knock on the door. Ematt glanced over his shoulder to see Poe standing on the other side of the transparisteel door. Leia dismissed Ematt and Brance before allowing the pilot to step into her office. When they were gone, she glanced at him with a stern look. "I suppose you're here to explain yourself."

Poe anxiously rubbed the back of his neck. "Ma'am, I want you to know that I tried hard not to hit him... I wasn't looking for a fight." He clenched his fists and Leia could see the bruises on his knuckles. "But I couldn't... I couldn't let him talk to Evelyn that way."

"I'm not angry at you, Poe," Leia assured him. 

"You're not?"

"No, I'm not. I was told that there might have been a lot of alcohol involved; your judgment might have been slightly impaired."

"General, it's still not an excuse for my behavior..."

"Maybe, but Dane deserved to be knocked down a few pegs."

"Honestly, I'm not sure he got the message," Poe said, letting out a slow breath. "He doesn't seem like the type to change his opinions that quickly."

Leia clutched her teacup and sighed, sadly. Evelyn would never talk about it, but she knew--her niece had suffered some emotional abuse at the end of her relationship with Jas. There definitely had not been any mutual respect between the couple. Evelyn really was just possession to Jas and when he left, Leia had watched her niece crumble. She had held her close while she cried, one of those times confessing that she missed the man that had defended her last night. "I don't like how he treats the female members of your squad, Poe, but his mission is vital to the Resistance."

Poe frowned and nodded. He understood that finding all the pieces of Agent Lothor's transmission was very important. Which was one of the reasons that Poe had come here to apologize and explain himself to the General. He really did try hard not to start that fight. Sighing, Poe promised her he would do his best to keep his temper in check. 

"Good. I have another mission for Black Squadron."

"Tekka?"

She nodded. "Gear up, Commander. You're about to go to jail and get cozy with a Hutt."

He blinked, not sure if she was serious or not, and then smiled drily. "My dad always said I'd end up in jail someday."

Leia smiled at him, fondly. "Lucky for us--you didn't. Why don't you go brief your squadron, I'm sure they are going to have a lot of questions."

Poe grabbed the data pad she offered him and looked at her, hopefully. "Is Evie allowed along for this one?" When Leia didn't respond, Poe sighed, "You know she's going to ask."

"We can't risk it, Poe," Leia said, sadly, "especially sending you into a prison with hardened criminals. She'll have to sit this one out."

"I suppose she would be a nice prize for a Hutt," Poe muttered. He was happy Leia was ordering Evelyn to stay behind--he just couldn't see how he could keep her safe in a jail. 

"Or anyone else looking for a bounty."

"That too. When would you like us to leave, General?"

"Tomorrow morning; I still have a few details to wrinkle out before you go."

"We'll be ready, ma'am."

* * *

Early the next morning Black Squadron was scheduled to depart. Like Poe had predicted, Evelyn was upset that she was once again being forced to sit this one out. However, he knew it was for the best, to keep her safe. She stood at the edge of the tarmac, hugging herself, the warm summer breeze blowing the stray pieces of hair in her face. 

Poe tucked his flight helmet underneath his arm and reached out with his free hand to tuck the flyaway pieces. "Stop worrying, Evie; I'm going to come back." 

She threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around him tightly and she buried her face against his chest. He snaked his free arm around her waist and held her, as long as his possibly could, because Black Squadron had a tight time schedule to stick too. Pulling away, Poe kissed the top of her head and promised that he'd see her in a few days. Evelyn stood there, with CB-2 and Oddy watching as Black Squadron boarded their fighters, taxied out onto the runway and then took off for the stars. 


	24. Chapter 24

Poe was certain he had been in worse situations than _this_ before. Just at the present time he couldn't think of any. 

As if being left to fend for themselves in the middle of a prison, and then having to literally fight their way to Grakkus the Hutt's home, Poe thought their bad luck had run out. That is until the Hutt made mention that Evelyn wasn't present--like he had been expecting her to be with Black Squadron. Poe didn't get to question it, the Hutt took his comrades hostage, taking their weapons and demanding that Poe follow his rules. He had been left with very little choice. 

Glancing at his team before he disappeared inside Grakkus home, Poe felt on edge. _Something_ was off. First of all, someone else had paid the prison more money to let Black Squadron venture to Grakkus on their own, the Hutt knew _who_ he was, knew that Evelyn was usually a part of their squadron--this only solidified Leia's decision to keep her back on D'Qar. Poe was grateful Evelyn wasn't here--and now Grakkus claimed to know _why_ Poe was here.

"How do you know all this?" the commander asked as Grakkus opened a door to a private chamber.

"Oh, hello, Commander," Terex said, standing in front of Poe, smiling. "So nice to see you again. I see you left her behind."

"Yeah... I left her behind," Poe snapped, irritated that Terex had beat them to their location yet again. "She's safe from you."

Terex chuckled. "If that's what you like to think, then so be it, Dameron." 

Poe felt chills run up his spine. "What is _that_ suppose to mean?"

"You cannot keep her safe from the First Order forever, Commander."

"As long as I'm still breathing I can."

"And I told you on Scarif, your demise can be arranged."

Grakkus seemed annoyed with their conversation. He grunted, loudly, and spat something at them in Huttese, turning the men's attention on him. "Gentlemen, I'm not in the mood for your petty quarrels. Now--we had a deal."

Terex frowned at him. "Yes, we had a deal. As soon as you give me the location of Lor San Tekka--I will get you out of here."

Poe crossed his arms over his chest, realizing that the Hutt had played _both_ of them. The only thing that mattered to Grakkus was getting out of Megalox. "I think the deal has just changed. Am I right, Grakkus?"

"You are correct, Mr. Dameron," Grakkus replied. "Whoever gets me out of this prison first, will get the information."

"You double-crossed us," Terex sneered.

"He's a Hutt--in all honesty--you should have seen that coming," Poe snarked.

Grakkus chuckled while Terex stormed out. Poe let out a little sigh, glancing at the crime lord. It didn't surprise him that the Hutt had double crossed them, he'd been prepared for it ,actually. Terex apparently had not, which meant it might take him longer to figure things out, to come up with a plan to get Grakkus out of Megalox Beta before Black Squadron. Fortunately for Poe-- he already had a back-up plan.

* * *

At the age of sixteen, Evelyn had stolen her father's x-wing and traveled to Kijimi in search of Poe. She had gone in the hopes of talking him into coming home to Yavin--unaware that the whole reason he was on Kijimi was because he was working undercover for the Republic. To this day Leia wasn't sure _how_ Poe had managed to convince Evelyn to go home--without him--and without breaking his cover. As she stepped into the hanger on D'Qar, she half expected to find that Evelyn had taken off again in search of Poe. 

Evelyn was seated underneath her fighter, legs crossed and tinkering with some parts. Her long hair was draped over one of her slender shoulders and Leia recalled that Sela often would sit that way underneath her own fighter during the days of the Rebellion. Feeling a sense of loss for her friend and sister-in-law, Leia sighed and pulled up a crate. Sitting down she waited until her niece glanced up at her to speak. "I know you're angry at me."

"I should be out there with my squadron," Evelyn responded, tightly.

"Your squadron is infiltrating a prison right now to break out a Hutt," Leia pointed out.

"Poe said they would have armed guards with them."

"Evelyn, it's just better if you stay here."

She angrily tossed the part she had been fiddled with aside. Her blue eyes flashed with rage. "You didn't tell my father to lay low when Vader was looking for him! Why are you _forcing_ me to sit around?"

Shaking her head, Leia sighed. "This is different, Evelyn. _Times_ are different. I couldn't afford to have your father sitting around--the Rebellion needed him."

Evelyn stood, tears running down her cheeks and absolute anguish flashing in her blue eyes. "So... what you're saying is that you don't need me, is that it? I can leave if you want! Maybe Uncle Han could use my help!"

Leia got to her feet and instantly pulled her niece into her arms, hugging her tightly. Evelyn sobbed against her shoulder. "Sweetheart, I do _need_ you. I need you to stay safe, I need you here when the time comes for you to get back in that x-wing with Black Squadron. You are important-- _very_ important." Gently, she rubbed Evelyn's back. "You're a light, Evelyn, you always have been--especially now in these darker times."

"I wish my father was here," Evelyn whimpered, taking Leia a little off guard. "Why did he have to go when I needed him the most?"

"Oh, sweetheart," Leia whispered, wishing she had the answers for her. "I don't know."

All she wanted was to go back--to the way things where--when her family was together; but Evelyn knew that they couldn't go back, so she had to settle for her aunt's comforting embrace. Even that couldn't last--the General was being paged. Leia let got of her, wiping the tears from her eyes with her small, delicate hands. "Remember--no one is ever really gone, Evelyn."

Eyes watering, Evelyn nodded watching as Leia exited the hanger. The General proceeded back to the surface of the planet, immediately recognizing that Black Squadron had returned. There was a flury of activity on the flight pad as technicians guided the fighters back to their landing spots. She crossed her arms over her chest, hoping that Poe and the others had been able to get the information that they had paid a lot of money for.

Poe approached her, looking tense and he handed her a data pad. "It wasn't easy getting this, General. Grakkus tried to play us--not surprisingly--all he wanted was out of that prison."

Leia quirked an eyebrow. "I take it you managed to get him out."

"Yeah, we did," the pilot said with a curt nod, "but not before Agent Terex showed up."

"I can only imagine--looking for Evelyn?"

"He was disappointed that I left her behind."

"She was too," Leia lamented, gazing over her shoulder in the direction of the hanger she'd left her niece in.

"It was for the best," Poe reminded her. "Are we sure this is legit, General?"

Sighing, Leia glanced at the data pad. "It sounds like someplace Lor San would go."

Poe nodded and ran a hand through his hair. "When do you want us to go after him?"

Leia glanced up, tensely. "We have a bigger issue, Commander--we need to find out _who_ passed on the information to Terex that Black Squadron was going to Megalox."

His jaw clenched, his brown eyes became dark with anger. Poe took a steadying breath. "The only ones that knew about this mission were Black Squadron, you, Dane, and Evelyn."

She gazed at him apologetically, knowing how much his squad meant to him. "I know--that means, Commander, that one of them betrayed the Resistance-betrayed _you_."

* * *

BB-8 regaled his tale of heroics on the latest mission--how it had been him and the other droids that had helped Black Squadron escape and return back to the Resistance-- to Evelyn while they walked towards the mess that night for dinner.

Evelyn smiled, affectionately at the little droid when he was done telling his tale. "It sounds like you were very brave, BeeBee."

Poe chuckled while his droid bristled with pride. His eyes met hers, and she smiled at him, warmly, but he couldn't find the energy to return it fully. Immediately, she knew something was wrong and her brown furrowed in concern. Poe reached for her hand and grasped it, tightly. "We wouldn't have gotten that information if it weren't for BeeBee and the other droids."

"Are you okay?" she asked him, softly. 

"Fine," he replied, curtly. "Exhausted. It's not easy breaking a Hutt out of jail."

"I wish I could have been there to help."

"I'm glad you weren't; one less thing to worry about--your safety."

"Did Aunt Leia give you another mission yet?" Evelyn inquired, changing the subject.

"Ah... she did," Poe said, biting his lower lip. _Technically_ because she knew about the mission to Megalox Beta--she was a suspect for giving up the information to the First Order. _No, she would never do that. She isn't the mole._ "The General wants me to figure out who keeps informing the First Order about Black Squadron's missions. I hear your brother was able to retrieve the next part of Agent Lothor's transmissions without a problem--which means, the First Order is interested in _our_ squad, Evie."

Evelyn nodded, softly. "He did; Kaleb reported that there was no sign of the First Order when they arrived--or that the First Order had even been there. Intel has been working around the clock to decipher everything that has been recovered so far--they managed to confirm what BeeBee told us on the first mission--that the First Order seems to be building some kind of super weapon."

Poe sighed, heavily. "Fantastic. Going back to the old tactics of the Empire by using fear to keep star systems in line." He gave her hand a squeeze as they stepped inside the mess hall. "I don't like this, Evie--someone from our squadron betraying us. We've both known L'ulo our whole lives, there's no way he would do this... and Snap, Jess? They could have been killed because the information was leaked. And Karé, I've flown with her for _years."_

She watched as Jess waved them over to a table. Poe led Evelyn through the crowd, towards the line to get dinner. Once they had their food, they joined their squad mates. He felt a pain in his chest just looking at them--just _thinking_ about one of them betraying him and the Resistance. There was no way-- _none--_ that any one of these pilots had sold information to the First Order. _So that leaves..._ Poe's dark brown eyes found the spy across the room, Dane's face was bruised from the fight they'd gotten into, but there was clearly a scowl on his face when he met Poe's eyes. The spy was vengeful--vengeful enough to sell information to the First Order.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. I'm hoping to post on Saturdays, teaching from home is much more exhausting and emotionally trying during this time. Thanks for the continued support :)


	25. Chapter 25

Alarm klaxons blasted throughout the base signaling heavy causalities were incoming.

Evelyn pushed her way into the command center, hearing the frantic radio messages and communications. "Is it Black Squadron?" She asked, grabbing Kaydel by the arm. When the younger woman wouldn't answer her because her aunt had given them strict orders to keep Evelyn _out_ of the loop--Evelyn shouted, "Is it Black Squadron?"

Kaydel could only nod her head before getting back to work; Evelyn tore off towards the surface of the planet. This was the worst part of being grounded, she couldn't help out her team, she couldn't help Poe. For the last two months she had watched as Poe led mission after mission, as she was forced to sit on the sidelines. Heart thundering in her chest, Evelyn made it to the surface just as four x-wings touched down. Immediately she could see that they were heavily damaged and chaos broke out on the flight pad.

Medics were running in, fire crews were dousing the flames on the fighters, and people were shouting, trying desperately to be heard over the blaring alarms. Evelyn ducked underneath mechanical crew and headed straight for Poe's x-wing. BB-8 was being lowered from the socket, beeping wildly and the little droid rushed at her when he caught sight of her.

"It's okay, BeeBee," Evelyn assured him, even if in that moment she didn't feel it. 

"Lieutenant, I need you to get out of the way, ma'am," someone said behind her and she felt fingers grasping her arm. 

Evelyn turned to see a medic pushing her back as the hatch to _Black One_ hissed open. Immediately the medics swarmed the fighter, she didn't even know she was holding her breath until she heard Poe shouting at them that he was fine. Letting out the breath, she reached down and gave a very anxious BB-8 some belly scratches. 

Poe emerged from the cockpit, shoving his helmet at one of the medics before gingerly peeling himself out of the pilot's seat. "I'm _fine!"_ he hissed when the medics insisted on looking at him. "Just some bruising; I'll live."

She didn't know why but that statement made her eyes fill with tears and she released her frustration in a choked sob. BB-8 nudged her, trying to comfort her, and moaned softly that he was sorry she wasn't flying with them anymore; he missed her. 

"I miss her too, BeeBee," Poe said before pulling Evelyn into his arms. "It's okay; we're fine."

"I hate this, Poe," Evelyn whimpered against his flight suit which smelled like smoke and engine oil. "I hate that I'm not out there with you."

He pressed a kiss to her temple. Poe pulled away from her, wrapped his arm around her torso, and headed back towards the base. He was barely concealing the winces on his face as he walked, but she didn't argue with him. "I need to speak to General Organa--update her on what happened out there."

Evelyn nodded and walked with him. She looked over her shoulder at the medics attempting to tend to the other members of Black Squadron. It turned out that all the pilots were equally as stubborn when it came to seeking medical treatment. Glancing back at Poe, she asked, "What did happen out there, Poe?"

Poe sighed, heavily. "A mess--a big giant mess. We need to figure out whose leaking information to the First Order and we need to figure it out _now._ Otherwise, we're going to be dealing with worse than Karé breaking her leg."

"Karé broke her leg?" 

"Yeah, as we were escaping Terex and his thugs _again._ "

"Who are you going to suggest replaces her?"

"You."

"Wait? What?"

He stopped and turned to face her. Poe could see the confusion in her eyes, after all, she had been grounded for two months. "On the way back here, I got to thinking--our latest missions--those have been for your aunt--Dane has no idea what Black Squadron is doing. As much as I hate the guy--he's not our mole."

She wasn't quite following his reasoning as to why he wanted her back on the squad. Evelyn stepped aside as someone rushed by her, heading towards the surface. "But you said yourself that there's no way Snap, Jess, Karé or L'ulo would betray the Resistance."

Poe nodded. "Yeah, that is until Terex knew _exactly_ where to fire to disable Karé's fighter--she's lucky she got out of there with only a broken leg. Who knows our fighters better than us, Evie?"

Evelyn paused, understanding flashing in her blue eyes. "Mechanics--they know our ships just as well as we do if not better. So you think...you think one of our mechanics is the mole?"

"Only theory that makes sense."

"Why would one of our mechanics betray us like this?"

"I don't know," Poe said, grabbing her hand and leading her towards the command center. "But I intend to find out."

"How?" Evelyn asked, walking along with him. "Are you even sure you know which mechanic it is?"

There was no response from him, partially because Poe didn't have any idea which mechanic was snitching on them, and partially because they had entered the command center and Leia was gesturing for them to join her in the situation room. "Have a seat," she instructed the two pilots. "We have a lot to discuss."

Evelyn shot Poe a glance as he sat down, wincing in pain as he did so. A brief look of concern washed over Leia's face as she noticed the pain Poe was in, but knowing the commander, Leia didn't bring it up. After this meeting was over, Evelyn was going to drag his ass down to the medcenter and have the medics look at him. She didn't care if she had to drag him there kicking and screaming--he was going. She knew it was more than _just some bruising._

Leia called something up on the holotable, watching Poe and Evelyn's expressions intensely. "Red Squadron was able to obtain the rest of those plans for the First Order base."

Poe blinked, eyes wide. "That looks a lot bigger than the Death Star."

"Because it is," Leia said, solemnly. "It's a base entirely built into a planet."

"How is the weapon charged?" Evelyn asked, anxiously.

"Agent Dane is working on decrypting the transmissions from Agent Lothor; engineers are looking at the specs."

"Is it operational?"

"Not yet. Maybe in another six to eight months."

Poe smiled, wistfully at Evelyn. "So... that gives us plenty of time to figure out how to blow it up."

Evelyn looked at him, incredulously. "I know you're trying to be funny... but at the same time you make a great point."

Leia shut the holoimage down. "We might not have all the time in the galaxy, but... we have enough time that I think Black Squadron has earned a break, Commander."

Standing, Poe nodded his head, noticing that Evelyn was watching him closely. "There's one more thing I wanted to discuss with you, ma'am."

"Yes. Evelyn is back on the squadron."

"What--how did you know that was what I was going to ask?"

The General's response was a gentle smile, and then an order for Poe to report to the med bay-- Evelyn offered to take him there herself. Poe argued the entire way out of the situation room that he didn't need to see a doctor, to which Evelyn argued that the wincing in pain every time he moved slightly was because she knew how _hard_ he flew, how hard he pushed himself in the cockpit--she was taking him to the med bay. 

Chuckling, Leia shook her head. Poe and Evelyn's bickering reminded her of herself and Han--L'ulo had been right all those weeks ago when he'd claimed that the young pilots were very much like a certain princess and smuggler. Feeling a heaviness press on her chest, Leia hoped that Poe and Evelyn's story had a much happier ending that hers.

* * *

"How's the prince?" Snap asked when Evelyn joined the group of pilots at dinner.

"Stubborn," Evelyn responded, sitting down next to her brother. "But he was right--it really is just some bruising."

Kaleb laughed. "You're not going to live that down--that Poe was right. He's going to remind you every chance he gets about this. Where is he anyway?"

Evelyn sighed and looked over her shoulder. "He went to take a shower, apparently he wasn't hungry." 

"Well, he's going to miss out," Jess said, holding up a bottle of brandy. "We're heading down to the lake after this to kickback."

"Sure you want him drunk again?" Kaleb quipped, grinning. "You do remember that last time he got drunk, right?"

"According to him--he wasn't," Snap chuckled. 

Kaleb frowned, slightly. He'd seen Poe a hell of lot drunker than he'd been the night down at the beach--but, Jas Dane had also not been around, hovering around Evelyn and calling her disparaging names. "Yeah well, thanks to him _I_ have to deal with Dane and I'm pretty sure if I punch him my aunt is going to kill me."

Snap shrugged his broad shoulders. "I'd look the other way if I were her. It's not like Dane doesn't deserve being punched--in fact, I'm pretty sure that if you did hit him, he probably would have done _something_ to deserve it."

Evelyn had noticed that ever since the fight on the beach, Jas had been keeping his distance from Black Squadron, partially because Leia had assigned Kaleb's squadron to retrieve the transmissions from Lothor. She didn't expect him, however, to change his attitude. It would take more than Poe beating him up to accomplish that. She finished up her dinner, decided that she wasn't going join the other pilots down by the lake.

Jess looked at her, curiously. "Where are you going to go?" 

Smiling, Evelyn replied, "to make sure the prince doesn't get into any trouble tonight."

* * *

Sunset on D’Qar reminded him of home. Poe climbed his favorite grassy hill, deciding to skip a night of drunken revelry with his friends, and opted for the quiet of a late summer sunset. The sun was just beginning to dip into the horizon when he spread the thin, worn blanket out and sat down. After being given the rest of the evening off, Poe had taken the opportunity the to freshen up after spending almost four days away from base. It felt good to be out the flight suit and gear and in his familiar leather jacket. 

Cool metal brushed against his hand and Poe smiled. It also felt good to have his trusty droid at his side. BB-8 had been following him around, concerned with how tired his master appeared, but Poe didn't mind. After all, the little droid had kept his rekindled romance with Evelyn a secret since they had kissed on the light freighter months ago now. Even though he was pretty sure everyone was aware that they were back together, BB-8 still hadn't said a word to the others. Poe sighed, feeling his muscles ache. The mission had been dangerous but they had still gotten additional information that might lead them to Lor San Tekka. Poe closed his eyes for a moment, letting the setting sun warm his face. It had been a long day… an incredibly long day…

“Do you mind if I join you?” Evelyn’s voice questioned, quietly, behind him.

“Of course not,” Poe replied, opening his eyes. He watched as she sat down next to him, sun reflecting in her copper brown hair. _Gods, is she beautiful,_ he thought as he reached out and ran his fingers through her hair. “Not in the mood to join in on the drinking tonight?”

Evelyn shook her head. "No. I think I've had enough of cantinas and bars and drinking for a while."

Poe chuckled and draped his arm over her shoulders, drawing her close to him. "Me too."

She snuggled against the perfect nook between his arm and shoulder, noticing that he winced slightly. "Does this hurt?"

He kissed the top of her head. "For you, I'll take a little bit of pain if it means I can hold you." He turned his attention to the last bit of sunlight in the sky, watching as the sun dipped completely below the horizon and out of sight. The air around them instantly cooled now that the warmth of the sun was gone and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Evelyn shiver. “Are you cold?”

Wrapping her arms around her upper body, Evelyn shrugged. “A little; I didn't really plan a head when I went looking for you.”

“Here,” he said, starting to peel his jacket off, “take mine.”

“Poe,” she protested as he draped it over her shoulders, “you don’t have too.”

“I’m trying to be chivalrous here, Evie.”

“You don’t _have_ to be!”

“I _want_ to be!”

“ _Sometimes_ you're so difficult.”

He laughed at the remark, his dark brown eyes sparkling. Poe held onto his jacket, now hanging over her shoulders. “There. Warmer?”

She felt color rise to her cheeks underneath his gaze. “Yes. Thank you.”

Poe held her gaze a little longer than he had expected to, but he couldn’t tear his eyes off of her. _Kiss her,_ he told himself, but was completely transfixed by her; her eyes, the curve of her lips, how his jacket was much too big on her…

Evelyn smiled at him, coyly. "You know you can kiss me, right? I think I've established that I'm alright with that."

Slowly, using his hold on the jacket to guide him, Poe pressed his lips to hers in a soft kiss. He released his hold on the jacket and wrapped his strong arms around her waist, guiding her towards the blanket. Her mouth opened this his, and he deepened the kiss as he laid her down underneath him. 

Closing her eyes, Evelyn sighed, as Poe’s lips began to kiss her along her jawline, behind her ear, and then down to her collarbone. She felt a fire spread across her skin wherever his lips touched her.

Poe pulled back, his left hand idly stroking her hip. “Hey, BeeBee-Ate?”

BB-8 beeped, his eye socket watching every move his master made.

“You can head back to base; I’m sure you need a recharge by now,” Poe said, kissing Evelyn, hungrily. “Oh, and still not a word of this…to anyone… got it?”

There was a chirping affirmative from BB-8, before he rolled away, down the grassy hill and back towards the base. Poe smiled as he leaned down to capture her lips once again with his own. She yielded to his gentle pressure, allowing him to deepen their kiss. He pressed her back into the thin blanket underneath him, his arms wrapping tightly about her, hands burying in her soft hair. Their legs became entangled the heavier their kisses became, and he felt what little control he had over his senses slipping away as desire took hold of him.

He broke their kiss, breathing hard, and slowly pressed kisses into the hollow of her neck, dipping lower and lower until he was kissing the top of her chest. Her hands tightened in his hair, he heard her little gasps of pleasure and felt a shiver run up his spine.

Poe pulled back, raising his head to gaze at her. Evelyn was breathing just as hard as he was, her hair spread out around her on the blanket, evident that hands had been playing in it mere moments before. He grinned at her just before he kissed her once again and pressed his body into hers because he wanted to feel as much of her as he could between the fabric of their clothing.

Evelyn began to unbutton his shirt. One hand idly drifting south towards the waistband of his trousers…

....and his com link went off, interrupting the heated moment, and requesting that he gather Black Squadron to meet in the situation room.

"Damn it," Poe sighed after the com link shut down. "I knew having the whole night off was too good to be true."

"It has to be important if Aunt Leia is calling for us, after giving us the night off," Evelyn replied, idly playing with his curls.

Poe closed his eyes and nodded. He sat up, holding his hand out to her to help her up. Opening his eyes, he took a deep breath. "Let's go see what they want."


	26. Chapter 26

Poe noticed that a woman was joining them in the situation room; one that he had never seen before. 

The woman was tall, slender and wore her blonde hair in a tight bun, accenting her high cheekbones. Honey colored eyes watched Black Squadron closely as they wandered into the room, all dressed in casual attire since they had been given the night off originally. "I'm sorry to pull you away from your night of freedom," she said, eyes gazing directly at Poe. She then quirked a grin and reached for the collar of his shirt. "And I apologize to the woman I took you away from, Commander."

He tensed, immediately; eyes snapping up to briefly glimpse at Evelyn, whose cheeks flushed pink. Poe took a step back from the woman and shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about, ma'am."

"You have a nice shade of lipstick on your collar. I'm a spy, we notice these things, Commander."

"Another spy? What happened to Dane?"

She chuckled and crossed her arms over her small chest. "He's around, somewhere; I heard he had some complications when it came to working with your squadron--so I was called in. Jas and I have worked well together in the past, so you have nothing to worry about."

 _Great, now there's two of them,_ Poe thought. Looking around at his squadron, he asked, "And you are?"

The woman smiled and held her hand out to him. "Forgive me, Commander, my name is Ana Renick." She shook his hand, warmly. Poe was struck with how different she was then Dane--she at least appeared to respect him and his fellow pilots. "I look forward to working with you and your squadron."

"What exactly are we going to be working on for you?" he asked, cautiously. They were still recovering from their last mission...

"You'll be going undercover," she informed them and then she smiled, slyly, at Poe. "You should pass as a wealthy weapon's dealer, Commander, your handsome face will certainly help you blend in."

Poe kept a neutral expression on his face. He knew a thing or two about how business worked on Canto Bright. Wealthy beings from all over the galaxy dressed in some of the most lavish clothes and threw away money as if it freely flowed in the nearby bay. "Agent Lothor sent a transmission to a weapon's dealer?" he questioned, not sure he entirely believed Renick. "Was he on our side or not?"

"War is business," Ana replied with a shrug of her slender shoulders. "And no, he didn't send it to a weapon's dealer--it was intercepted and now it's being sold to the highest bidder."

"Let me guess," Poe said, eyes narrowing on her. "I'm the highest bidder."

Her response was a smile. Ana handed him a data card. "This is your cover. Black Squadron will take a ship to Canto Bright, where you will infiltrate the casinos there. Your target will be at the high rollers' table. He'll know you're there for the information because you'll be wearing a blue flower on your lapel. Let him come to you, Commander. If you rouse any kind of suspicion this mission is going unravel--quickly."

He clutched the data card in his hand. Poe wasn't sure this was such a good idea. There were so many unknowns when heading into an undercover operation like this. "Wait a minute," he said, reading over the file, "this says my _wife_ will be with me."

Ana quirked an eyebrow. "We can't have you waltzing in there single; a man with your looks and money will have women all over you at Canto Bright. Lieutenant Skywalker or Lieutenant Pava will be sufficient enough to pass as your wife, Commander. I had requested Miss Skywalker, however, General Organa would like the decision to ultimately be up to you."

Poe looked at both women. If there wasn't a table between them and Renick he was sure one of them would have slapped her. "Well, what do you say ladies?" he inquired, with a soft smile in their direction, "which one of you is marrying me?"

"Evelyn, should, clearly--you bicker already like you're married," Jess said with a shrug.

"The spy is right--Evelyn is better for the job, although I bet she has other reasons," Snap quipped with a smile.

"Princess?" Poe questioned, grinning at her.

"Fine," Evelyn responded. "Don't make me regret this."

"Well," Snap drawled, "It's not a resounding _yes,_ but it was close enough. Congratulations, Commander, looks like you just got hitched."

"Sorry I don't have a ring, princess."

"I'll get over it."

Ana cleared her throat to get the pilots attention. "As fun as it would be to plan your fake wedding, Commander Dameron, Lieutenant Skywalker--we have mission prep to complete."

Evelyn threw a glance at Jess. "Isn't fake wedding planning part of the mission prep if Poe and I are going to pretend to be married? I would think our wedding story would be part of our cover."

Jess snapped her fingers. "I bet you guys got married by the ocean, only closest friends and family were there, and your dress was a creamy white, to match the sand of the beach."

Snap scratched his chin. "Why a creamy white dress? Why not pure white?"

"Oh please, she isn't a pure bride."

"Jessika!"

"What? It's true, Evie."

Rolling her eyes, Leia interrupted,"Are you all just about done?" She laughed silently when the pilots all sheepishly adverted her gaze. "We have little time to prepare. Black Squadron needs to leave almost immediately. So, I'm sorry, Commander, there isn't going to be a honeymoon."

Poe smiled, charmingly at Evelyn. "That's okay, General, we're _way_ passed the honeymoon period."

Evelyn glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm already regretting this."

Jess clicked her tongue. "See? They already act like a married couple..."

"Here are your mission specs," Ana said, shoving a data card into Poe's hand. "You depart in two hours; the Resistance has procured a rather fancy ship for you, Commander, but I suggest that you return it us in one piece."

"Yes ma'am," Poe said, giving her a little salute. He noticed the slight smile that she gave him in return. "Anything else we should know before we leave?"

Ana shook her head and dismissed them. As Black Squadron was leaving the room, Poe could distinctly hear Leia inform the spy that she shouldn't expect the yacht to come back to base in one piece.

* * *

Black Squadron loaded the yacht with supplies for their mission well into the late evening hours. There wouldn't be much sleep for them--they were scheduled to depart first thing in the morning. So, they had chosen to bunk up on the yacht. 

"Hey Snap, don't you think the mister and missus should take the bigger suite?" Jess teased, grinning from ear to ear at Poe and Evelyn.

"Like they're going to sleep," Snap said, chuckling.

Poe glared at them. "Are you both going to place a bet on this?"

Snap laughed, warmly. "Nah, we placed a bet on that months ago--Pava won of course. Come on, you both can fess up-- we know you're back together."

Jess smiled. "Although, it's been fun watching the two of you try to explain why you were late to briefings, or dinner, or acting like we didn't see you kiss, even though we know you did."

"Guess you can tell BeeBee he doesn't need to keep it a secret anymore," Evelyn countered, a soft smile on her face.

"No, he doesn't," Snap said, "but you might want to let him know that you aren't really married. He seemed a little confused."

Poe's eyes went wide. He'd only told BB-8 not say a word about them dating again--he'd never mentioned that the _marriage_ was a cover--by morning it was possible that everyone was going to have the wrong impression. There was a real chance that BB-8 was out there at that very moment on the base announcing that Poe and Evelyn had gotten married. "Damn it."

Jess pat him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, when we get back from Canto Bright, we'll make sure to throw you a killer bachelor party."

Snap laughed and followed Jess towards the smaller bunk room that servants would use on the yacht. After they were gone, Evelyn crossed her arms and smiled at him. "Don't worry, I saw BeeBee shut down for the night about thirty minutes ago. He isn't out there announcing our wedding to the galaxy."

"Thank the Force," Poe muttered, running a hand through his hair. "Bee is a great companion and I wouldn't trade him for anything in the galaxy..."

"However," Evelyn countered, still smiling, "he doesn't understand when to keep information to himself."

"Exactly."

"Come on, Commander. We probably should get some sleep."

Poe grinned at her. "Do you mean to actually sleep--or to do what Snap was hinting at?"

Evelyn punched him, playfully in the arm. She moved away from him and punched in the code for the suite. In the middle was a large, plush bed--softer than any she'd slept in since joining the Resistance. As she was thinking about falling into the blankets and mountains of pillows, she felt Poe's arms around her, lifting her up and carrying her to the bed. "Poe, really? Aren't you tired?"

Resting her on the bed, Poe smiled down at her. "I am. Exhausted, actually. I'm just making sure that my wife is comfortable." He pushed her hair back, away from her face and kissed her. "After all, she expect the finest things in life, including a husband that waits on her hand and foot."

She watched as he pulled her boots off and placed them down next to the bed. "I could get used to this," she said, quirking a grin as he massaged the soles of her feet. 

He looked at her, mischievously. "Well, you only have _this_ for a few days. I wouldn't get used to it, but enjoy it while it lasts, _dear."_

"You mean, after this mission is over you won't take care of me?"

"Oh Evie, of course I'll take care of you. _Always._ Taking care of you is much different than being at your beck and call."

"This is true. I think I prefer when you take care of me, it means more then."

Poe slipped out of his jacket and boots before laying down next to her. He pulled her into his arms and pressed his lips to her temple, and he smiled, coyly."So...what kind of taking care of do you want from me tonight?"

Evelyn shook her head and laughed, snuggling into his embrace. "Poe, just shut up and go to sleep."

He couldn't sleep though, as she laid there in his arms, Poe's mind was going at light speed. "Evie. You ever think about us...getting married?"

She opened her eyes and looked up at him, noticing the intense gaze. "Do you?"

"Yeah," Poe said, softly. "Ironically, I thought about it _more_ after I left you."

"Maybe," Evelyn sighed, "Maybe...someday...I could see us getting married." 

Poe smiled at her and gently kissed her. "Well...maybe is better than no."

Evelyn felt a tear slid down on her cheek. "I only said maybe because...because... I don't know....if I'll survive all this." 

Wrapping her tightly into his arms, Poe buried his nose in her hair. He wished that he could assure that they were going to survive the coming conflict, but he knew--it was uncertain and it was something that he couldn't promise her, no matter how much he wanted too. 


	27. Chapter 27

_**Canto Bright** _

Poe was not a fan of the arrogant display of wealth put on display before him. He also wasn't a fan with the way these rich men looked at Evelyn. 

Evelyn was hardly recognizable in all the make-up, the navy blue wig, and the shimmering silver gown that clung to her body, plunging into a deep v in the back. No one was none the wiser when she passed them that _she_ was the daughter of Luke Skywalker, the niece of Leia Organa--which was probably the whole reason Renick had picked that outfit for her. 

Fixing the blue flower on the lapel of his black suit, Poe kept the other hand on the small of her back; a clear message to all the men lusting after her that she was his--and she was off limits. Of course, if anyone tried anything, they'd probably be met with the blaster that Evelyn had strapped to the inside of her thigh, concealed underneath the gown. He'd like to see one of those rich men cowering on the floor with her standing over them, blaster in their face. Smiling, Poe steered her in the direction of the gaming table that Renick had informed them that their informant would approach them at. 

Pulling her close to his hip, Poe wrapped his arm possessively around Evelyn's waist. She played the part, leaning into him, and running her fingers through his hair as he sat down at the table. Neither of them were surprised to find the table lined with some of the richest beings in the galaxy, each with a woman half their age on both arms. _These bastards have zero respect for anything,_ Poe thought, angrily. His father had taught him to respect women, especially if he was lucky one day to have a wife--Kes had always told him that some of the strongest beings he'd known, had been women.

"Deal you in, sir?" the lanky Twi'lek asked as Poe stepped up to the table, pulling him away from his thoughts.

"Sure," Poe said, tossing some credits on the table. "What do I have to lose, right darling?" 

"Absolutely nothing," Evelyn replied, smiling cloyingly sweet at him. "Would you like a drink, handsome?"

"Yes," he said, stroking his thumb along her jawline. "You know what I like, baby. I trust you take care of it for me."

With a swing of her hips, Evelyn turned and headed towards the bar. Poe noticed that all eyes at the table followed her; she hadn't been sent there to keep women away from him so he could get the information, she had really been sent there as a distraction for all the other potential buyers. For someone that was in heels, Evelyn was commanding that room right now. " _Well,"_ Snap said, reminding Poe of the ear piece in his left ear, " _you've convinced me that you're married..."_

Poe chuckled and watched his opponents at the game table. If any of them were suspicious of Poe, there were no telling signs in their facial expression. Still, he knew that he couldn't let his guard down--especially with Evelyn in the same room. "Any sign of Terex?" he whispered to Snap.

Snap clicked his tongue. " _Not so much as a peep yet, Poe. Maybe he isn't going to show up."_

"I'm not letting my guard down, Wexley. I don't trust the guy. And I don't trust whoever is betraying us to him."

" _Don't worry, Dameron; Jess and I are monitoring all air traffic. We'll let you know if he appears."_

Poe rubbed his hand over his chin. "He does show up and puts a finger on Evie--I'm blasting him, Snap."

Snap sighed. " _Poe, Agent Renick asked us_ not _to cause a scene. Killing a First Order agent is going to cause a scene."_

"Whatever. Protecting Evelyn is more important."

" _Force, I told Renick you were a loose cannon..."_

"Only when the safety of my squadron is threatened..."

_"More specifically--Evelyn."_

Lifting his eyes from the players at the table, Poe found Evelyn across the room at the bar getting their drinks. He would never say that _any_ of his pilots were expendable... but if it came down to it... she would be the first one that he laid his life down for. She might not realize it yet but she was incredibly important to the survival of the galaxy.

Someone stepped into the spot that was previously occupied by her. Turning his head slightly, Poe saw a tall, broad shoulder man with a scar over his left eye standing next to him. "Your wife has every man in this room wishing they were you. Exquisite beauty."

Poe smiled, tightly, as he tossed more money into the game. "Well, when you have this much money--only an exquisite beauty hanging off your arm will do."

"And is my product still worth that money to you?"

"As long as what you're selling me is legit."

"It's legit; just one promise before we discuss payment--make sure the First Order doesn't hear you got this from me. Those Empire wannabes are interfering with my business."

"Don't worry--I can guarantee you that the First Order isn't going to know I got it from you."

Evelyn returned with his drink, sliding up on the other side and slipping her hand into the crook of his arm. Poe took the drink from her and sipped it, carefully. "Dear, would you get my new business acquaintance a drink?"

The man shook his head, and then gestured to the dealer that he wanted to wager on the next game. "No need, I don't drink. Do you have the money?"

Poe reached into his pocket and produced the credits that Renick had given him to buy the information. He watched closely as the man took the credits, inspected them to make sure they were real, and then placed them in his own pocket. No one would have noticed the slight move he made to place a data chip on the edge of the table, and no one would have noticed how Poe slipped the data card into his jacket pocket, all while sipping on the drink Evelyn had brought him.

"It was a pleasure doing business with you," the man said, tipping his head in Poe's direction before walking away. 

"Likewise," Poe murmured, finishing the drink. He put the glass down; with his hand on Evelyn's waist, he directed her back through the casino. "Let's get out of here."

* * *

_"Is the information legit?"_ Snap asked over the comm once Poe and Evelyn made it back to their room.

"Oh, it's legit," Poe said, loosen his tie and watching the projection of the map BB-8 was displaying. 

" _What exactly_ is _the information?"_ Jess inquired.

"A map of _every_ First Order base in the Unknown Regions--and their weapons schematics."

" _Damn. That is legit, Pava."_

Poe tossed the tie aside and took a deep breath. "No wonder it would be valuable to a weapon's dealer--you'd know exactly what every base in the First Order needed and then cash in. I can see why Agent Lothor wanted the Resistance to have this information. We know what we're up against now and to be honest with you guys, it doesn't look good."

Snap sighed, heavily. He had no doubt that Poe was speaking the truth; the Resistance had their suspicions for the longest time now that the First Order was much more dangerous than the Senate deemed." _Guess we should get back to base then. When should we expect you and the missus, Dameron?"_

"Fifteen minutes," Poe said. "Just changing out of these outfits Renick had us wear."

" _Ah you realize that your cover is still needed to get our ship outta here, right?"_

"Don't worry, we'll still look the part--just more comfortably."

Evelyn emerged from the refresher then, just as Poe shut the commlink down. She had changed out of the lavish gown, removed the wig and make-up, and now wore an emerald green chiffon tunic and black leggings. Quietly she sat next to him on the bed. 

Poe reached out and pulled her close, pressing his lips to her forehead. "Told Snap we'd be back at the ship in fifteen minutes. Figured we probably shouldn't wait to get back to base and give the General this information."

She nodded. "Probably a good idea."

He laughed, quietly. "Is this my first time having one?"

"No... you've been known to have them once and a while."

"Hopefully I haven't used up my quota."

Evelyn smiled and stood up, holding her hand out to him. It was time to go; they had done their job and gotten the intel from the weapon's dealer before he sold it to the First Order. "We should probably get a move on, we don't want to worry Snap if we show up late."

Poe sighed and joined her. "The last thing we need is Snap to go running through the city looking for us." He gestured for BB-8. "Let's go, Bee." Grabbing their bags and slinging them over his shoulder, Poe took her hand and led them out of the hotel room. Checking out of the suite was easy, heading back towards the ship through the streets was easy. No one paid any attention to them--as far as anyone knew they were just another rich couple. Not even the appearance of BB-8 raised eyebrows. The little droid zipped along next to them, causing Poe to chuckle. "Is this what our future holds?"

Glancing at him before running a hand through her hair, Evelyn smiled. "What do you mean? Posing as wealthy spouses to get information?"

Motioning towards BB-8, Poe grinned. "No--us, taking walks with Bee, like he's our little droid son."

"I sort of figured that you and BeeBee were a packaged deal."

"Damn right we are."

BB-8 twilled happily while they walked. Evelyn wrapped her arm around Poe's waist, pressing her cheek against his shoulder. "If this is our future--I don't think this is so bad."

Poe kissed her temple and then he grinned, devilishly. "You know... I still got some of that money left... I could buy you a ring..."

Evelyn shot him a mock glare. "Don't you dare--Renick will know immediately that the money is gone. You're expected to return it."

"Yeah but she doesn't know how much I played on those games."

"That would be cheating."

"Just slightly."

"Poe. No."

"Can I at least buy you some flowers?"

"If it's going to make you feel better and get you to shut up--yes."

Laughing, Poe let go of her, moving towards a flower vendor. While he was chatting with the florist, Poe watched as Evelyn and BB-8 walked a little ways a head of him. She smiled at him when she caught him watching her and he heard her words echoing in his head-- _if this is our future, I don't think this is so bad._ His eyes were still locked with hers when the explosion rocked the square, deafening and destructive.

Poe was thrown from his spot, clear across the road and his head slammed against the stone. Groggily, he managed to gather himself to all fours, desperately looking about the square for BB-8 and Evelyn. All he could see was flames from the blast, smoke filling the air as beings ran about terrified and screaming. Briefly, Poe saw them, rushing through the crowd for him. It didn't appear that Evelyn was hurt or that BB-8 was damage and for that he felt a small sliver of relief--until the next blast, until in the chaos of a second bomb going off, until a look of surprise passed Evelyn's face as she was confronted by a tall man. It was the last thing he remembered, the last thing he saw, before the world around him went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter! This story is almost complete and I've already outlined the sequel :)


	28. Chapter 28

Evelyn took a step back in shock and fear. They had been monitoring _everything_ to make sure that this didn't happen--that Terex didn't get close to her. Yet, here he was, standing in front of her in that chaos filled square, blaster trained on her.

Terex smiled at her. "You seemed surprised to see me, Miss Skywalker. You know, I couldn't make it obvious that I was here--otherwise, we both know Dameron would have left you behind--safe and sound with the Resistance." He glanced over his shoulder briefly. "And, my dear, speaking of Dameron--we need to get going before he comes to and realizes what is going on. I really want to do this with as little blood spilled as possible."

"Really? The bombs kinda put a kink in that plan," Evelyn snapped, stepping away from him further. "And I'm not going with you."

"I will stun you and drag you out of here if I have too," Terex warned her. "Let's not make a scene."

BB-8 rolled forward then, his shock arm extended and he zapped the unsuspecting First Order agent. He dropped his blaster and Evelyn took the opportunity to turn and run. She would have gotten away, she would have been able to use the chaotic scene around her to escape--if someone hadn't been waiting for her to try just that. She slammed into the solid body and gasped. Behind her she could hear BB-8 frantically beeping. For the briefest second, Evelyn felt relief wash through her--until she realized that Oddy was standing there holding a blaster at her. "Oddy? What are you doing here?"

Oddy glanced nervously at Terex. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant, I didn't have a choice. I didn't want... I didn't want to hurt you or Commander Dameron--I consider you my friends--but he has my Sowa."

Evelyn turned and glared at the First Order agent, making her feelings for him quite evident on her face. "Bastard, using someone that he loves against him to get what _you_ want. I guess I shouldn't be surprised from someone that worships the Emperor."

Terex gestured with his blaster. "Let's go, Miss Skywalker; you have an appointment to keep with General Hux and I have a payday to collect on."

"You can tell General Hux I respectfully decline his invitation," Evelyn snapped, feeling Oddy grab her by the arm.

"Please, Lieutenant, please do as he says." He grunted when she caught him in the stomach with her elbow, knocking the wind out of him and forcing him to release his hold on her. 

She scrambled away, trying to find a means to escape, but now Terex blocked her path, blaster aimed at her. Evelyn stepped back, swallowing anxiously--for the first time in years she reached out to the Force, drawing on its power, its energy, and she ripped the blaster from the First Order agent's hand--straight into her own. Behind her she could feel Oddy, and with the blaster aimed at Terex, she held her other hand out and froze the mechanic in place. "I told you--I wasn't going with you."

Terex smiled at her, willfully. "I see why they're so interested in you--quite the display of power, Miss Skywalker."

"You haven't seen power yet," Evelyn snapped at him. 

"Then show me," Terex dared her, throwing a vibroblade towards her. 

Quickly, Evelyn reached out and flung the knife aside, but that meant she released her hold on Oddy. She managed to scramble out of his reach, distracting him by throwing a crate at him through the Force. She felt Terex behind her but before she could react, Poe came out of nowhere and tackled him to the ground, landing a right hook on his jaw. 

Jumping to his feet, Poe reached for her hand and grasped it. "Let's go, Evie! Run!" Pulling her through the crowd, Poe headed back towards their ship. "Snap!" he shouted into his commlink, "start the damn ship up! We need to get out of here _fast!"_

Evelyn heard Snap respond to him that they'd be ready to go once the other pilots made it back to the ship. She glanced behind her to see BB-8 was furiously rolling behind them, along with Terex and Oddy giving chase. When she saw Terex had obtained another blaster, aiming at them, she shoved Poe out of the way, just before the blast bolt hit him in the back. Instead the blast grazed his arm and Poe let out a cry of pain as he fell to the street, clutching at the wound. "Poe!" Evelyn cried out, reaching for him and helping him get back to his feet. "I'm sorry! He was going to shoot you in the back... I didn't know what else to do!"

Poe shook his head and kept running. They were almost to the ship. "It's fine, I'll live," he ground out, in obvious pain. "It's more important that we back to the ship and get the hell out of here." They were _so close--_ Poe could see their ship--and then Terex stepped in their path, blocking their escape. Poe skidded to a halt and turned in the opposite direction but it was fruitless--Oddy blocked that means of escape. Even if the pained look in his eyes gave away that he did not want to hurt them, both Poe and Evelyn knew that he would, if he had too, to protect his wife. Clutching Evelyn's hand, he pulled her behind him, protectively standing in front of her. 

"Step aside, Commander," Terex ordered him.

"No, I won't let you take her," Poe growled. 

"I'm going to enjoy blasting you," the First Order agent snapped, priming his blaster.

"Poe... let me go," Evelyn whispered.

Shaking his head from the sudden fog, Poe glanced at her. "No, Evelyn--I won't them take you to _him._ "

Clenching her jaw, she reached out and repeated, "You have to let me go." 

Blinking, Poe let go of her hand and stepped back. "I have to let you go."

A tear slid down her cheek as she felt Terex grab her arm. Evelyn let him pull her backwards; she _hated_ that she was tricking Poe like this--but she had too. Otherwise, they would kill him. "Poe, you need to get on the ship. You need to leave." And he did--he got back on the ship, in a daze of course no thanks to her. Evelyn stood there, tears clouding her vision as the ship lifted into the sky. It wouldn't take him long to figure out what happened. She knew he'd be furious. She just prayed that _if_ she made it back to the Resistance she had not broken whatever trust he had in her.

Terex led her back to his ship, locking her in a cell. He didn't say a word to her; didn't even look at her.

Evelyn stood back from the force-field and swallowed, anxiously. "Where are we going?" she asked, hating how timid her voice sounded in that moment.

"Kaddak," the First Order agent replied.

"Kaddak?" Evelyn repeated. "That lawless planet is where you're handing me over to General Hux?"

"Oh, no, that's not where I'm handing you over--we're going there until I get paid."

"Worried that the First Order might double cross you?"

He laughed, glancing at her. "I've been around long enough, Miss Skywalker, to know that you always make sure you get paid for your services before delivering the goods. Otherwise, you will get double-crossed and end up broke."

She wrapped her arms around herself, hugging tightly to stem the wave of anxiety washing over her. "And if General Hux refuses to pay you? What are you going to do with me?"

Terex shrugged. "I'm sure I can find _someone_ in this galaxy willing to pay my price."

Evelyn felt sick to her stomach. "I'm just a transaction to you, nothing more."

"I'm sorry, my dear," Terex replied just before he headed towards the cockpit of his ship, "don't take it personally--it's just good business."

* * *

Kaleb had only ever seen Poe this furious once before--and he was so wrapped up the fear and ramifications over Evelyn being captured that he couldn't even recall what his friend at been mad at. However, right now, from the moment the yacht had touched down... Poe was on the warpath. The pilot was angry at everyone it seemed--Terex, the First Order, himself--Evelyn. He seemed to be the most angry at her, for using the Force against him. Kaleb was surprised she had resorted to such a tactic but he knew _why_ she had done it. "Listen," Kaleb said to the commander once he had stormed into the command center, trying to calm him, "she only tricked you as a last resort. To keep you and the others safe."

Poe clenched his jaw. "Really? Have you ever had someone violate you like that before, Kaleb? Have you ever had someone take control of your mind without even asking? Of course not! Because you're Force sensitive and would be able to fight it off! That isn't the case for someone like me! I trusted her to never do something like that and she did it anyway!" 

Leia held her hand up when she noticed that Kaleb was going to counter. Her nephew took a step back. Gently, the general placed her hand on Poe's uninjured arm. "Poe, she did it to protect you--do you think you would have gotten away?"

"We were so close, General," Poe said, shaking his had sadly. "She didn't give me enough time to come up with a plan."

"Terex would have killed you before then," Kaleb threw out. "Evelyn did you a favor."

"I let my guard down," the commander mumbled. "My gut was telling me that Oddy was involved..."

"He fooled us all, Poe," Leia pointed out. "Now, let's just focus on getting Evelyn back safe and sound. We still have time to mount a rescue but we need to act quickly."

Poe nodded and rubbed his hand over his face. He didn't even know where to being to look for Evelyn or location for where Terex could have taken her. BB-8 bumped him in the leg and beeped, softly. Glancing up, Poe set his jaw. "You're right, buddy. That map of First Order bases might help us. Can you call it up?"

BB-8 was rolling to the center of Leia's office, when someone knocked on the glass. Leia gestured for them to enter, watching as Major Brance stepped inside. He waited for the door to shut behind him before speaking, "General, Commander Dameron is receiving an encrypted message--from Kaddak."

Leia quirked an eyebrow in his direction. Poe glanced at her, horrified. "Kaddak? I promise you, General, I do not know anyone on that planet. I don't know why someone would be contacting me from there."

"Well, play the message," Kaleb snapped at Brance. Maybe, if they were lucky, it was information on Evelyn's whereabouts. 

"Captain, the message is intended for only Commander Dameron," Brance said, eyeing Kaleb, cautiously.

"Major, I give you permission to play it in front of everyone," Poe said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Brance sighed and handed a data chip to Leia, who inserted it into the holoprojector. They watched as Oddy's image was projected. Poe's shoulders immediately stiffened as the mechanic began to speak, letting them know that Evelyn was fine--for the time being. "Agent Terex is waiting to get paid before handing Lieutenant Skywalker over to the First Order, if you hurry, Commander, the Resistance might be able to save her. I've sent you schematics of Terex's complex here on Kaddak, Commander--security codes--but you must act quickly. I... I need to go... I am so very sorry... I didn't want to hurt Lieutenant Skywalker... but he left me no choice."

Poe's jaw twitched as Oddy disappeared from the projector. If Terex found out that he'd sent that message to the Resistance it would mean death for the mechanic. He glanced at Kaleb and then at Leia. "General?"

Leia nodded. "You and Kaleb need to leave immediately--bring Evelyn home."


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the extremely long delay in getting this up. Hit some writer's block, but I think I'm back on track now. Hope you like it!

Poe sat hunched over the controls of the _Mirror Bright_ while it flew towards Kaddak. He couldn't stop thinking about Evelyn, the danger she was in and if they didn't get to her before the First Order. She'd disappear--Kylo Ren and Snoke would make sure of that. If only she had given him more time back on Canto Bright to think of a plan...

Kaleb pat him on the shoulder, encouragingly before sitting down in the co-pilot's seat. "Aunt Leia wants us to debrief once we pull out of hyperspace. Seems Dane and Rennick found some information for us."

"Great," Poe mumbled, rubbing his temples. "He must be dancing with glee to stick it to me for allowing Evelyn to be captured."

"I wouldn't say _dancing,"_ Kaleb replied. "Kaydel did say he was strutting around a bit more though..."

Raising his head, Poe glared at him. "Really? You're going to joke at a time like this?"

Sighing, Kaleb nodded. "Yes, because if I don't try to lighten the mood--the tension is going to choke us."

Poe closed his eyes. Kaleb had a valid point. The tension had been thick since Black Squadron had returned to D'Qar without Evelyn. "I'm sorry," he said, suddenly.

Kaleb groaned, softly. "Dameron, we've been through this--I don't blame you for what happened. Evelyn tricked you, you were left with no choice but to let her go."

"I made a promise to you--to keep her safe. I broke _that_ promise."

"We both know it was a ridiculously hard promise to keep--she was flying in your squadron after all."

BB-8 chirped some encouraging words; Poe sighed and nodded, trying to remain hopeful. It was hard though, when they were flying towards one of the most lawless places in the galaxy. The Resistance wasn't going to give them much clout on Kaddak. Black Squadron was on stand by if Poe and Kaleb didn't report in 24 hours that they had Evelyn, but even then Poe wasn't sure his pilots would be of much help. 

Kaleb's brow furrowed in concern for his friend. Poe was usually the optimistic one. _Something_ was eating at him, and it was more than just Evelyn being caught. "You couldn't have known that Oddy was the mole. He was your friend; he was always concerned when Black Squadron was away and now that I think about it, when Evelyn was grounded, he spent a lot of time with her." _Maybe we should have known..._

Poe shook his head to clear his thoughts. "It's not that. Oddy was blackmailed into betraying us because Terex felt it was fine to threatening someone Oddy loved. Well, whose to say that won't happen to one of us? What if the whole reason that Evelyn was taken was so you and Leia could be blackmailed? Or me?"

"She wasn't taken to manipulate my aunt or myself or even you--she was taken to be turned into a weapon."

"Why? Because turning Ben into a mass murderer wasn't enough?"

Instantly, Poe regretted those words when he saw the anguish flash through Kaleb's blue eyes. Ben's fall to the dark side had ripped the Skywalkers and Solos apart and while most of the galaxy thought that Ben had died that night at the Temple--Poe was one of the few that knew he hadn't. He'd been on Yavin the night it happened--his father had been with him when the found an injured Kaleb and Evelyn, stumbled across Sela's body--Poe had also been present when Kaleb and Evelyn made the terrible confirmation that it had been Ben that led the uprising, Ben that had murdered their mother. Everything had crumbled after that. "I'm sorry, that was... that was insensitive..."

Kaleb smiled, sadly, and shook his head. "What? It's true, isn't it? Snoke poisoned Ben into believing that the Jedi were evil and he needed to kill every last one of us. He turned Ben into what he is now--if there's anything left of my cousin at all."

Poe glanced away, briefly. "It wasn't your fault--just like it wasn't Evelyn's or you father's. Your family needs to stop blaming themselves for the choices that Ben made."

"You sound like Lando--he said the same things to my aunt and uncle."

"Well--you have to admit we might be on to something."

BB-8 chirped that they were pulling out of hyperspace. Poe turned in his chair and effortless guided the ship towards the planet's surface. They had located a spot far outside of the city to land, away from the prying eyes of criminals. Luckily here no one really checked who was coming in and out of the system--it was essential if they wanted to keep up the illegal business. Poe put the _Mirror Bright_ down near a cave and shut the ship down. "Let's get in touch with Dane and Rennick."

Kaleb sighed and nodded, submitting Dane's comm code. The spy appeared looking smug as usual. "I see you've managed to keep yourselves alive."

Poe resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "We just arrived."

"Ah, so there's still time for you to piss off one of the many gangs here, Dameron."

"Do you have anything for us or did you just want us to call to taunt me, Dane?"

"As fun as that would be--we actually do you have information for you."

"And?"

Dane pursed his lips, realizing that Poe wasn't in the mood to play along. "Terex runs a gang out of Kaddak. He has a compound on the planet--after you left, Oddy contacted us again, giving us security codes to enter the compound, safely." 

Rennick appeared in the holo projection then. "Commander, we don't have to tell you how dangerous these men are--if you and Captain Skywalker are caught--well, it was nice knowing you."

Poe sighed and nodded, curtly. Black Squadron had been in some nasty places in the last few months, but nothing compared to the dangers he was facing here with Kaleb. But he needed to rescue Evelyn, and he needed to get her back D'Qar safely. So, if he had to go charging into a compound swarming with gang members--he was going to do it. "We'll contact you if we need anything," he sad, reaching to shut the communication done.

"Wait!" Rennick stopped him. "Remember, if we don't hear from you in twenty-four hours, we're sending Black Squadron and our best special operations forces in, got it, Commander?"

"Got it," Poe said, shutting the communication down. He glanced at Kaleb and sighed, "In case those codes don't work--any thoughts on how to break into a gang stronghold?"

* * *

Evelyn hated waiting and she decided that she particularly hated waiting to _die._ Because that was the only way this was going to turn out once Terex handed her over to Hux and Kylo Ren--she wouldn't give them what they wanted--she wouldn't turn to the dark side, she couldn't tell them where her father had gone. Once they realized she was worthless to them, she had no doubt that the Supreme Leader would have her executed. And he would probably have Ben to it since he had failed the first time the night the Temple fell. 

Hearing heavy footsteps near her cell, Evelyn glanced up to see Terex smiling at her. He unlocked the door and stepped inside, brandishing a bottle and two glasses of wine. "Care to join me for a drink, my dear?"

"Do I have much of a choice?" Evelyn countered, glaring at him.

"I'm not going to force the wine down your throat if that's what your asking," Terex replied, closing the cell door behind him. He sat down in the small chair kitty-cornered from her cot. 

"I'll pass, thanks."

"Relax, my dear. According to General Hux you've been bestowed a great honor to meet the Supreme Leader."

"I think General Hux and I have different opinions of what construes as a _great honor,_ " Evelyn snapped.

Terex chuckled and poured himself and Evelyn a glass of wine. When she looked reluctant to take it, he grinned. "Now, Miss Skywalker, why would I put poison in this? Like we discussed earlier--you are worth a lot of money to me, my dear."

Evelyn glared at him but still didn't take the wine. "I hope they're happy you bombed a city street to get me."

"Actually, that wasn't me; seems there are a few turf wars going on between arms dealers. That was an assassination attempt--I just got lucky."

"And if the bombs had killed me?"

"Well then, I suspect the First Order would have dealt with the arms dealer that took their prize from them."

"Believe me, I'm not a prize to them--they view me as another weapon." 

Grinning, Terex sipped his wine. Once again he held the other glass out to her. "See? Not poison." He delighted when she took his offering and sniffed it, just to make sure. "I think you and I could have had a beautiful friendship, Miss Skywalker, if circumstances were different."

Curiously, Evelyn stared at him. "Friendship? You were hired by the First Order to kidnap me, attempted to kill my friends... and you think we could have had a friendship?"

Terex nodded. "We're not so different, you and I, Miss Skywalker."

Evelyn glared. "Please. Elaborate."

"Neither of us are a fan of the First Order."

"If that's the case, why are you working for them?"

He shrugged. "I needed the money. Business has been difficult since your family dismantled the Empire."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm so sorry about that."

Terex put his glass down and leaned forward in his seat. He took her chin in his hand, less aggressively than she anticipated. "Your family should have had the foresight to realize that the Emperor wouldn't leave ways for his Empire to return--for him to return."

Evelyn felt a cold dread run through her. Long before Ben's fall to the dark side and the destruction of the Temple, her mother had worried about the possible return of the Empire--Sela had specifically cited that there had already been factions of it breaking off before the Battle of Yavin. "The Emperor is dead. My grandfather killed him."

"So the First Order would like you to think," Terex said, standing. He hovered over her. "The Republic is nothing but a facade, my dear." 

"The Senate would never..." Evelyn started to say, until she felt a tingly sensation forming in her limbs. "What...what did you...what did you do to me?"

"Just a little something to relax you my dear," the First Order agent replied, holding a small needle up. He'd distracted her just enough to inject her with the drug. "Now, don't fight it, Miss Skywalker--that will only make it worse."

If she had wanted to fight it, there was no way that she could--already Evelyn could feel the drug taking affect. "Bastard," she managed to snarl just before the ship faded away to darkness.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally complete :) I hope you have enjoyed it. And yes...there will be a sequel!

Slipping into Terex's compound was easy--thanks to Oddy. However, now that they were on the inside, Poe felt incredibly anxious. If they were caught there was no doubt in Poe's mind that Terex would hold them for bounties or kill them. He didn't know about Kaleb, but he was quite ready to die yet--and he certainly did not want to be a prisoner of the First Order. They needed to find Evelyn and get out of here as quickly as possible.

Poe gripped his blaster. They had also talked about the possibility that _this_ was a trap sprung to capture Kaleb as well and Poe would just be the collateral damage. The pilot was certain Kylo Ren would have no problem executing him. They had never actually gotten along well as children. 

Kaleb sensed the unease in Poe; he had the same concerns. Silently he reached out and placed his hand on his friend's shoulder. He noticed that Poe took a deep breath, and whispered to BB-8 to lead the way, to the cell that Oddy said Terex was keeping Evelyn in. 

BB-8 cautiously led the two men through the dark, dank corridors of Terex's compound; alerting them when his sensors picked up another lifeform in the presence so Poe and Kaleb had time to conceal themselves before being spotted. The members of Terex's gang didn't seem to care about a little astromech droid. He led them down a dank corridor and stopped outside a small door, informing Poe and Kaleb that this was the cell that Evelyn was being held in. "Go on, Bee," Poe whispered, glancing down the hallway. "Open it. We'll keep watch."

"If we say run--move that little droid body of yours as fast as you can," Kaleb instructed.

"And meet us back at the ship," Poe told BB-8. "Don't wait for us, Bee."

Chirping in reluctant agreement, BB-8 got to work on getting the cell door open. The locks clicked and the door slid open. Poe waited for the droid to roll out of his way before stepping inside. He was partially ready for her coming at him--after all she had no idea that the Resistance had sent anyone after her--but his reflexes kicked in and he grabbed her wrist before she could hurt him. "Evie, it's me!"

Evelyn stepped back, blinking and then she lunged for him again, this time wrapping her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. Poe could feel her legs give out as he wrapped his arms around her, and he held steady against him. "It's okay," he whispered in her ear, "I've got you. We're gonna take you home."

Kaleb watched as his sister let go of Poe and now threw one arm around him, drawing him into an awkward three person hug. He didn't care; they had managed to get to her before their cousin and General Hux. "Poe, we gotta get going before we get caught."

"Yeah," Poe whispered, releasing both of them. "Evie can you walk?"

"I...I think so...they gave me something... I'm a little dizzy," Evelyn replied.

Poe wrapped one arm around her waist and instructed Kaleb and BB-8 to go a head of them. He'd drag Evelyn back to the _Mirror Bright_ if he had too. It was evident that Evelyn had been given some kind of drug, probably to control her Force abilities--she was clumsy on her feet, which wasn't like her at all. She normally moved about with such grace that at times she could appear to be floating.

BB-8 stopped, alerting them that someone was approaching. Kaleb and Poe scrambled to hide, squeezing Evelyn between them in an alcove. All three of them held their breaths as Terex and several Stormtroopers walked by them. "Kriff," Poe cursed, as he realized Terex was heading for Evelyn's cell. "We don't have a lot of time."

Kaleb unclipped his lightsaber. "Well, fortunately for us, Terex _didn't_ give me drugs to affect my force sensitivity."

"What are you going to do?" Evelyn snapped at her brother. "Use your lightsaber to slice their blasters in half while all of them are firing on us?"

"Those drugs have made you snakier."

"Deal with it."

"Children," Poe scolded. "Can we get moving? I really don't want to become a prisoner today."

BB-8 beeped in agreement and then led them onward. Poe was pretty that none of them breathed until they were well out of Terex's compound and making their way back through the city. Even though, they weren't quite out of the woods yet. Once Terex realized that Evelyn was gone, he'd have his gang out looking for them. 

Halfway outside of the city Poe was starting to get suspicious that their escape had been _way too easy_ when Evelyn stumbled, an almost soundless cry leaving her mouth. 'Evie? What's wrong?"

Evelyn squeezed her eyes shut, tightly. "It's Ren. He's here--he knows where I am."

Kaleb grabbed her by the arm. "Push him out Evelyn!" 

"I can't... the drug..."

"Get her on her feet, Poe; we don't have a lot of time."

"Don't have a lot of time for _what_?" 

"Ben is using Evie to find us."

Poe looked at the painful expression on Evelyn's face as he dragged her, along with Kaleb, towards their ship. "What are you talking about?"

Kaleb yanked on Evelyn's arm, lifting her over a jagged rock. "He's pushing into her mind--he can probably see everything she can see."

Evelyn struggled to keep up with the two men. She doing her best to keep her cousin from entering her mind, but the drug made it difficult. It had completely inhibited her from tapping into the power. Which is exactly what General Hux and Kylo Ren would have wanted when they brought her before Supreme Leader Snoke. 

Somehow, Poe and Kaleb managed to get her back to the _Mirror Bright._ They didn't mean too, but they dropped her roughly on the floor on their way to the start the ship up. Evelyn closed her eyes tightly, reaching out the Force and attempting to fight back against Ren's invasion. Vaguely she could hear Poe and Kaleb shouting at one another as they tried to escape--she wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but she knew that her cousin had sent a squadron of TIE=fighters after them. Poe was attempting to get assistance from Black Squadron. 

_Come with me Evelyn and I'll let them go. I'll let them live._

_Stay out of my head! I'm not going with you!_

"Black Leader to base! We need some back-up!"

" _Black Squadron is on their way, Commander."_

_They'll all die, Evelyn. If you stay with them, every single one of them will meet a quick death._

She tried to ignore him, fight back, push him out of her head--but with ever effort, Ren just fought back harder. Evelyn eventually couldn't handle it anymore and she succumbed to the pain, the intrusion, and blacked out of the cold durasteal floor of the _Mirror Bright._

* * *

At the age of six, Evelyn had caught some nasty virus on a trip with her parents to the capital. Upon their return home she had spent a duration of two weeks in bed with fever, aches, and chills. She could feel the fear her parents had--that she was so sick she was going to die--but one morning she woke up and the fever had broken. She didn't remember much, just flashes of images of her parents taking care of her, of the medics checking up on her. 

It was much like how she was feeling now as her eyes slowly opened to reveal the medical bay on D'Qar. 

Everything was quiet now--Poe and Kaleb weren't shouting, Ren wasn't forcing himself into her mind--all she could hear was the steady drone of medical monitors. Flexing her fingers, Evelyn took a deep breath, realizing that her memories of what happened on the _Mirror Bright_ were quite fuzzy. Had she even been on the ship at all?

"Hey sleepyhead," Poe's voice interrupted her thoughts. She gazed up to see him step into her room. He brushed her hair back from her forehead and kissed her. "Feeling okay?"

"Been better--but I've also been worse," Evelyn answered, honestly. "What happened?"

Poe's eyes grew heavy, sad. "Black Squadron came to help us, but we wouldn't have gotten away if it weren't for Oddy. I tried to tell him not to do it, that the First Order would know he was the one that sabotaged the ship--but he didn't listen. We got confirmation about an hour ago--Hux had him executed."

Evelyn closed her eyes in an attempt to stop her tears. She felt Poe's fingers in her hair, his lips softly pressing kisses to her cheek. "It's my fault. If the First Order wasn't after me then Oddy never would have been blackmailed by Terex and none of this would have happened."

He sighed, sitting down on the bed. Reaching out, Poe put an arm around her. "This is not your fault."

She shook her head, violently. "But it is. If I wasn't so strong in the Force..."

"Don't you dare apologize for being _you._ "

"But...Poe...if I..."

Poe took her face between his hands and look at her, intensely. "You are exactly _who_ you were meant to be. Do you understand me? The First Order...they don't care about you as a person--they just want to exploit your talents. And they only want to do that because they know--you can destroy them."

Evelyn shook her head again, this time not with as much vigor. "You're wrong, Poe; I'm strong enough to destroy them. I couldn't even stop them five years ago--when they were murdering my friends, when they murdered my mother--nothing has changed. I won't be able to do it."

He pulled her tightly into his arms. "Not alone," Poe whispered in her ear. "But together--we can defeat them. It might just take time and patience."

She blinked her tears away and laughed, sadly. "I never thought I'd hear _you_ talk about patience."

"First time for everything I suppose."

"Yes, I guess there is."

Leaning back ever so slightly, Poe lowered his lips to hers, kissing her tenderly. He had been so afraid he was going to lose her, especially when he had failed at keeping her safe. Resting his forehead against hers, Poe sighed. "Force, Evie, I thought I was going to lose you. I didn't think we'd make it in time. I've never been more afraid than I was when they took you."

Evelyn's thumbs ghosted over his cheeks. "I knew you would find me. I never doubted you for a second because you're so damn stubborn that you would have searched every corner of the galaxy for me--and never given up." She was silent for a moment, before she sighed, heavily. "It's only going to harder from here, isn't it?"

Poe took a deep breath, tightened his arms around her waist. "I'm afraid so, sweetheart."

"We need to find Master Tekka."

"We need to find your father."

She knew this; this had been the only thing on her mind for some time now. "In order to do that," Evelyn whispered, "We need to find Master Tekka. He has the map."

He pressed his lips to her forehead and slowly stood up, holding his hand out to her, Poe smiled, sadly, "Then what are we waiting for? We have a map to find."


End file.
